X7 v Australian Crime Commission & Anor [2012] HCATrans 205

The High Court of Australia, constituted by Gummow J, considered an application by X7 for leave to appeal against a decision of the Full Federal Court. The dispute concerned the validity of a notice issued by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) under s 29(1) of the *Australian Crime Commission Act 2002* (Cth) (the Act) requiring X7 to attend before the ACC for examination. X7 sought to challenge the lawfulness of this notice.

The central legal issue before Gummow J was whether the ACC had acted lawfully in issuing the s 29 notice. Specifically, the Court was required to determine if the ACC had properly considered the relevant factors and complied with the requirements of the Act when deciding to issue the notice to X7. This involved an examination of the ACC's investigative powers and the procedural safeguards applicable to individuals subject to such notices.

Gummow J granted leave to appeal and allowed the appeal. His Honour found that the ACC had failed to properly consider the information available to it when issuing the notice, and that the notice was therefore invalid. The reasoning focused on the statutory obligation of the ACC to have regard to the information available to it when forming the belief that it was in the public interest for a person to be examined. The Court held that the ACC had not discharged this obligation, rendering the notice defective.