Police Integrity Commission v Battal

The Police Integrity Commission applied to the Court for an order requiring the New South Wales Trustee and Guardian to pay certain moneys to the New South Wales Treasurer as partial discharge of a proceeds assessment order. The order followed a finding that the proceeds of crime were held by the Trustee and Guardian. The defendant in the case, Battal, did not dispute the application. The Court was required to determine whether the application could proceed without the formal requirement of serving notice of the motion and supporting affidavit on the defendant. The Court considered that the defendant had been notified of the application and had chosen not to take any action to oppose it. Based on this, the Court decided that the requirement for service could be dispensed with, allowing the application to proceed without formal notification to the defendant.

The Court considered whether the defendant had been made sufficiently aware of the proceedings against them. The Court noted that the defendant had been notified of the application and had not taken any steps to oppose it or to request additional time to do so. This led the Court to infer that the defendant had chosen not to participate in the proceedings. The Court also took into account the fact that the defendant had not requested an adjournment or additional time to respond to the application. These factors led the Court to conclude that dispensing with the requirement for formal service of the notice of motion and supporting affidavit was appropriate. The Court recognised the importance of the defendant's right to be informed of proceedings against them, but balanced this against the need to proceed efficiently where it was clear that the defendant had chosen not to participate in the proceedings.