''Attorney General (NSW) v Quin'', is a

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

judgment Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. In an informal context, a judgement is opinion expressed as fact. In the context of a legal trial ...

of the High Court. The

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic pa ...

related to

Australian administrative law Australian administrative law defines the extent of the powers and responsibilities held by administrative agencies of Australian governments. It is basically a common law system, with an increasing statutory overlay that has shifted its focus ...

and to an extent the

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

Background

The

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

Courts of Petty Sessions were abolished and replaced by Local Courts. 95 of the former

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

were appointed to the new Local Courts, however six were not due to concerns about their fitness to be magistrates. Five of the magistrates, commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW seeking an order that they be appointed magistrates. They were unsuccessful at first,''Macrae v Attorney-General (NSW)'' (1985) 7 ALD 97. however the

NSW Court of Appeal The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates pursu ...

held that the decision of the Attorney-General not to recommend their appointment as Magistrates was void because it was made in such a way as to deny the applicants' legitimate expectations of procedural fairness. The

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

's application for special leave to appeal was refused.''Quin v Attorney General (NSW)'' (1988) 28 IR 244. In 1988 there was a change of government and the new Attorney-General, John Dowd changed the selection policy to one where magistrates were to be selected entirely on merit and that required an assessment of competing applicants. None of the five were appointed. Mr Quin, Mr Nash and Mrs Sleeman commenced fresh proceedings, however Mr Nash & Mrs Sleeman subsequently decided to retire. Quin's challenge was on the basis that he had a real expectation to be reappointed which was founded in

natural justice In English law, natural justice is technical terminology for the rule against bias (''nemo iudex in causa sua'') and the right to a fair hearing (''audi alteram partem''). While the term ''natural justice'' is often retained as a general conc ...

. An issue in the case was whether the doctrine of

estoppel Estoppel is a judicial device whereby a court may prevent or "estop" a person from making assertions or from going back on their word. The person barred from doing so is said to be "estopped". Estoppel may prevent someone from bringing a particul ...

could prevent a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

from changing that

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

. The Court of Appeal made a declaration that Mr Quin was entitled to have his application considered without reference to other applicants. The Attorney-General obtained special leave to appeal to the High Court.

Finding

The

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

found in favour of the Attorney-General, ruling that Courts were not able to overrule government policy as the appointment of magistrates is a role of the executive. Brennan J held that "Judicial review provides no remedies to protect interests, falling short of enforceable rights, which are apt to be affected by the lawful exercise of executive or administrative power" and that "Judicial review has undoubtedly been invoked ... to set aside administrative acts and decisions which are unjust or otherwise inappropriate, but only to the extent the purported exercise of power is excessive and or otherwise unlawful."

Principle

The

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

cannot by representation or promise disable itself from performing a statutory duty; this includes the adoption of, or acting in accordance with, a new policy.

References

{{reflist, 30em High Court of Australia cases 1990 in case law 1990 in Australian law

Background

Finding

Principle

See also

References