Young v Jackman

The applicant, Gary Mylecharane Young, sought a stay of a six-month imprisonment sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales for contempt of court. The application was heard in the High Court of Australia, with Mr. M. Meek appearing for the applicant and Mr. S.D. Kalfas appearing for the second-named respondent, the Registrar of the Court of Appeal. The first-named respondent, Ms. Jackman, was the applicant's former wife, and her appearance was not anticipated or required as she had taken no part in the contempt proceedings before the Court of Appeal other than as a witness.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the applicant had demonstrated substantial prospects of success in his application for special leave to appeal against the contempt conviction and sentence. If this threshold was met, the court would then consider whether to grant a stay of the imprisonment order. The applicant's counsel indicated that he would only rely on ground 1 of the special leave application, which alleged that the Court of Appeal's decision was against the weight of the evidence.

The court's reasoning focused on the applicant's obligation to persuade the judge that there were substantial prospects of success in the special leave application. The judge noted that the ground of appeal relied upon, "against the weight of the evidence," was an unusual ground in the High Court and typically did not attract the grant of special leave. The applicant's counsel acknowledged this difficulty and stated that his task was to persuade the judge that there was some basis in the Court of Appeal's decision that would give rise to the order sought. The judge indicated that if the applicant could satisfy the criteria for substantial prospects of success, then a stay would otherwise appear to be warranted.