Re Wood

The case of Re Wood involved a prisoner, Robert Paul Wood, who sought declarations that certain paragraphs of the Ministerial Guidelines to the Queensland Community Corrections Board were invalid and that he was entitled to have his application for early release heard without reference to these guidelines. The legal issues before the court were whether the guidelines were a valid exercise of the statutory power conferred on the Minister by section 139 of the Corrective Services Act 1988, and if not, whether the applicant was entitled to have his parole application reconsidered. The court found that the guidelines did not deprive the Queensland Community Corrections Board of its discretion and were a valid exercise of the statutory power. Therefore, the declarations sought were refused, and the summons was dismissed. The court emphasised that while the guidelines were to be closely adhered to, they did not remove the Board’s ability to exercise its discretion in individual cases. The applicant's application for early release was not reconsidered as the guidelines were found to be valid.