Wentworth v Graham & 1 Ors

Santow JA of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales considered an application by Wentworth seeking a review of a determination made by the Registrar of the Court. The Registrar had dismissed Wentworth's application for leave to appeal against a decision by an Appeal Judge. The Appeal Judge had previously refused to recuse himself from hearing a matter on the grounds of bias or apprehended bias.

The central legal issue before Santow JA was whether the Registrar's dismissal of the application for leave to appeal was correct. This required the court to consider the merits of the application for leave to appeal itself, specifically whether there was a sufficient basis to argue that the Appeal Judge had erred in refusing to recuse himself due to bias or apprehended bias.

Santow JA applied the principles governing applications for leave to appeal and the test for bias or apprehended bias. His Honour found that the grounds raised by Wentworth did not meet the threshold for granting leave to appeal. Consequently, the Registrar's decision to dismiss the application was upheld.

The Notice of Motion filed by Wentworth was dismissed.