Vella v Bowden

Vella applied to the Court for an appeal to be heard by a panel of judges from New South Wales, Victoria, or Queensland. The appeal concerned a decision made by a magistrate in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria. Bowden opposed the application on the basis that the proposed panel of judges would create a reasonable apprehension of bias. Bowden submitted that the judges proposed by Vella had a history of decisions unfavourable to litigants in cases involving similar issues to those in the appeal. Bowden argued that Vella's application should be dismissed.

The court considered whether Bowden had established that the proposed panel of judges would create a reasonable apprehension of bias. The court examined the decisions made by the proposed judges and found that there was no pattern of decisions unfavourable to litigants in cases involving similar issues. The court found that the proposed judges did not have a closed mind on the issues to be determined in the appeal and that they were willing to give the parties a fair hearing. The court dismissed the application.