Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd v John Forster Emmott (No 2)

The applicant, Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd, sought the recusal of Basten AJA on the grounds of a reasonable apprehension of bias. The application arose in proceedings between Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd and John Forster Emmott.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the judge’s prior involvement in separate appeal proceedings approximately 15 years earlier, which had been dismissed, gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias in the current proceedings. The applicant contended that the judge’s participation in the earlier appeal was sufficient to create such an apprehension.

Basten AJA reasoned that the previous judgment, which had been dismissed, was not concerned with the merits of the current proceeding, nor did it involve any findings as to the credibility of the parties or witnesses relevant to the present dispute. His Honour concluded that the mere fact of having sat on a court that dismissed a separate appeal 15 years prior, without any connection to the substance of the current case, did not establish a reasonable apprehension of bias. Accordingly, the application for recusal was declined.