Reznitsky v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)

The applicant, Reznitsky, sought judicial review of a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the DPP's refusal to grant an extension of time for Reznitsky to appeal against a conviction. The matter came before Meagher and Emmett JJA and Tobias AJA.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the DPP's refusal to grant the extension of time, and consequently the District Court's dismissal of Reznitsky's application for that extension, constituted a denial of procedural fairness amounting to jurisdictional error. This involved an examination of the principles governing the exercise of discretion by the DPP under section 22(1) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) and the requirements of procedural fairness in such administrative decision-making processes.

The Court found that the DPP's decision-making process had failed to afford Reznitsky procedural fairness. Specifically, the Court determined that Reznitsky had not been given adequate notice of the reasons for the DPP's preliminary view that an extension of time should not be granted, nor had he been provided with a sufficient opportunity to respond to those reasons. This failure to provide procedural fairness was held to be a jurisdictional error. Consequently, the Court quashed the orders of Judge Hughes made on 11 November 2009 and remitted Reznitsky's application for an extension of time to the District Court for redetermination according to law. The fifth respondent was ordered to pay the applicant's costs.