McMillan and McMillan (No 2)

In *McMillan and McMillan (No 2)*, the husband sought the recusal of Tree J from hearing his application filed on 12 September 2016. The wife opposed this application.

The central legal issue before the court was whether there were grounds for Tree J to recuse himself from presiding over the husband's application. This involved an assessment of whether a reasonable apprehension of bias could be formed by a fair-minded lay observer.

Tree J dismissed the application for recusal. The judge applied the well-established test for apprehended bias, which requires considering whether a reasonable person, knowing the relevant facts, would apprehend that the judge might not bring an impartial mind to the issue. Having considered the circumstances, Tree J concluded that no such apprehension could reasonably be formed.

Consequently, the application that Tree J recuse himself from hearing the husband’s application filed 12 September 2016 was dismissed.