Mohareb v Palmer

Mohareb (the applicant) sought leave to appeal against an order of the primary judge who had refused him leave to prosecute Palmer (the respondent) for perjury under section 338(1)(c) of the *Crimes Act 1900* (NSW). The alleged perjury concerned a false statement made on oath in connection with proceedings before the primary judge.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether there was an arguable error in the primary judge’s decision to refuse leave to prosecute. This required the Court to consider whether the applicant had sufficiently identified the false statement alleged to have been made on oath.

Meagher JA and Bergin CJ in Eq dismissed the summons seeking leave to appeal. Their Honours found that the applicant had not identified the allegedly false statement with sufficient precision to establish an arguable error in the primary judge’s refusal of leave. Consequently, the application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.