Westpac Banking Corporation v Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth)

Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) sought judicial review of a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (DPP) to refuse to grant a certificate under s 21 of the *Proceeds of Crime Act 1987* (Cth) (the Act). The DPP had refused to grant the certificate, which would have allowed Westpac to retain certain assets that had been frozen under a restraining order. The matter came before the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the DPP had erred in law in refusing to grant the certificate. Specifically, the court had to consider the proper interpretation of s 21 of the Act, which permitted the DPP to grant a certificate allowing a financial institution to retain property if satisfied that the property was acquired by the institution in the ordinary course of its business and that the institution had no reasonable grounds to believe that the property was, or was likely to be, the proceeds of an offence.

Gleeson CJ, in delivering the judgment, considered the purpose of s 21 and the nature of the DPP's discretion. His Honour noted that the DPP's decision involved a consideration of whether Westpac had acted with reasonable diligence and without suspicion regarding the origin of the funds. The court examined the evidence presented to the DPP and the reasons provided for the refusal, ultimately concluding that the DPP had not misconstrued the relevant provisions of the Act or acted unreasonably in the exercise of its discretion. The High Court found that the DPP was entitled to be satisfied that Westpac had not met the criteria for the grant of the certificate.

The High Court dismissed Westpac's application for judicial review.