McGuire v Secretary for Justice

McGuire brought proceedings against the Secretary for Justice in the Supreme Court of Victoria seeking a review of a decision made by the Secretary pursuant to the Legal Services Act 2007. The Secretary had declined to approve McGuire’s application to provide legal aid services and imposed a sanction on him. McGuire sought an internal review of the Secretary’s decision by the Review Authority established under the Act. The Review Authority declined to review the Secretary’s decision on the basis that McGuire’s application for review was not lodged within the prescribed period. The Review Authority found that McGuire was notified of the Secretary’s decision on 20 August 2012 and that his application for review was not lodged until 14 November 2012. The Review Authority found that there were no exceptional circumstances preventing McGuire from lodging his application for review within the prescribed 20 working days.

The issues before the court were whether the Review Authority was correct to conclude that McGuire’s application for review was not made within the prescribed period and whether the Review Authority was correct to conclude that there were no exceptional circumstances preventing McGuire from lodging his application within the prescribed period. The court considered whether the Review Authority was correct to conclude that McGuire’s application for review was not made within the prescribed period. The court considered whether the Review Authority was correct to conclude that there were no exceptional circumstances preventing McGuire from lodging his application within the prescribed period.

The court concluded that the Review Authority was correct to conclude that McGuire’s application for review was not made within the prescribed period. The court found that the Review Authority was correct to conclude that McGuire’s application for review was not made within the prescribed period of 20 working days. The court found that the Review Authority was correct to conclude that there were no exceptional circumstances preventing McGuire from lodging his application within the prescribed period. The court found that the Review Authority’s decision was correct on both issues and dismissed McGuire’s application for review.

The court dismissed McGuire’s application for review and ordered that McGuire pay the Secretary’s costs of the proceedings.