Simeon v Minister for Finance and Deregulation

In these consolidated proceedings, Michael Simeon and John Henry Griffiths sought judicial review of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation's decision to refuse their applications for act of grace payments. These payments were intended to compensate them for forensic evidence provided by the Commonwealth's drug testing services, which led to their wrongful convictions and imprisonment. The applicants' convictions on drug charges were subsequently overturned on appeal, as the jury should have had serious doubts about the correctness of the forensic analysis conducted by an analyst from the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories. The applicants argued that the Minister's decision to deny the act of grace payments was flawed on various grounds, including denial of natural justice, failure to take into account relevant material, and failure to attribute sufficient weight to certain matters.

The court examined each of the grounds of review advanced by the applicants. The court found that the Minister was not required to provide the applicants with the full copy of the forensic testing report, as only an extract was held by the Minister's Department, and this extract had been provided to the applicants. Therefore, there was no denial of procedural fairness. Furthermore, the court held that the Minister was not required to take into account the evidence that the applicants relied on at their criminal trial, as the weighing of the evidence was a matter for the Minister. The court also found that it was not improper for the Minister to consider the standard of proof in the criminal litigation or to apply any standard of proof in his considerations. The Minister's discretionary power under s 33 of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth) meant that he was not required to apply a standard of proof.

In conclusion, the court found that none of the grounds of review alleged were made out, and both proceedings were dismissed. The applicants were ordered to pay the respondent's costs, as agreed or taxed.