Obeid v The Queen

The applicant, Obeid, sought a stay of criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales pending the determination of his application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia. Obeid had made an interlocutory application to quash the indictment or permanently stay the proceedings before the empanelment of the jury, which was refused by a single judge and subsequently dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

The central legal issue before Gageler J was whether the criminal proceeding in the Supreme Court of New South Wales should be stayed pending the determination of Obeid's application for special leave to appeal to the High Court. This involved considering the principles governing the grant of a stay of criminal proceedings in such circumstances.

Gageler J applied the principles established in cases such as *Sankey v Whitlam* and *R v P* which outline the exceptional circumstances required for a stay of criminal proceedings pending an appeal. His Honour considered the applicant's prospects of success on the special leave application and the potential prejudice to the administration of justice. Ultimately, Gageler J found that the threshold for granting a stay had not been met.

The applicant's summons filed on 17 December 2015 was dismissed.