Snow and Secretary, Department of Social Services

The applicant, Snow, sought the recusal or reconstitution of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (SSAT) in a dispute concerning a decision by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services.

The central legal issue before the Tribunal was whether there were grounds for recusal or reconstitution of the Tribunal due to apprehended bias.

The Senior Member, Dr N A Manetta, considered the principles of apprehended bias, which require a reasonable apprehension of a lack of impartiality on the part of the decision-maker. The Senior Member found that the applicant had not established any facts or circumstances that would lead a fair-minded lay observer to apprehend that the Tribunal might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the question the Tribunal was required to decide. Therefore, the application for recusal or reconstitution was refused.