Mohareb v Manly Local Court (No 2)

Mohareb applied to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for orders that a judge of the Manly Local Court recuse himself from hearing proceedings against Mohareb. The application was based on apprehended bias.

The primary legal issue before Gleeson JA was whether the judge's previous adverse decisions against Mohareb, and certain comments made by the judge at the commencement of the hearing, gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias. This required an assessment of whether a fair-minded lay observer, knowing the facts, would apprehend that the judge might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the question the judge was required to decide.

Gleeson JA reasoned that previous adverse decisions, without more, do not automatically give rise to an apprehension of bias. The critical question was whether the judge's conduct or statements indicated a pre-judgment of the case or a lack of impartiality. His Honour found that the comments made by the judge at the commencement of the hearing, when considered in their full context, did not demonstrate a closed mind or a predisposition to rule against Mohareb. Therefore, the apprehended bias was not established.

The application for recusal was refused.