Rucker v Stewart

The appellant, a serving senior sergeant of the Queensland Police Service, was stood down from duty by the deputy commissioner under section 6.1 of the Police Service Administration Act 1990 (Qld) without being afforded an opportunity to present his case. The decision to stand him down was based on several disciplinary allegations. The Commissioner for Police Service Reviews reviewed the decision at the appellant’s request and recommended it be affirmed. The police commissioner considered the review recommendation and confirmed the stand down decision. The appellant sought judicial review of the decision, arguing that he was denied procedural fairness.

The court considered whether procedural fairness was excluded at the time of the original stand down decision and whether the decision was part of a multi-stage statutory decision-making process. It was noted that the appellant lost the ability to earn additional income through overtime and special duties and was relieved of his powers and duties. The court found that the appellant was required to be afforded procedural fairness prior to the initial stand down decision being made. The court also found that the review commissioner was required to conduct the review hearing de novo and did not impermissibly confine the review to whether the initial stand down decision complied with legislation and policy.

The appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the respondents’ costs of and incidental to the appeal to be assessed on the standard basis. The court held that the review commissioner’s decision was not flawed and that the appellant’s arguments did not succeed. The court found that the review commissioner considered all relevant material and gave proper weight to the evidence presented. The court also found that the appellant’s loss of income and powers and duties did not require the deputy commissioner to afford him procedural fairness prior to the initial stand down decision being made.