Still, there are enough clues in the report to predict some of the dice that Walker might roll in a review. That has not been a claim levelled at McColl – especially after she detailed key conversations and events and explained how they guided her thinking. Watson’s view on her prospects of a successful review of the commission’s adverse findings was shared by other silks, who only spoke on background.įor such a challenge to be successful, it must be demonstrated that no reasonable decision-maker could have reached a conclusion of serious corrupt conduct based on the evidence. She left the parliament in February 2022 and joined Optus as its head of enterprise. She immediately resigned as premier, before giving further evidence. In October 2021, ICAC revealed it was investigating her. In October 2020, Berejiklian first gave evidence to the ICAC about her “close personal relationship” with Maguire. Gladys Berejiklian announcing her resignation as premier on October 1, 2021. Operation Keppel, the investigation of Maguire’s business dealings, began in 2020 on the back of an earlier inquiry (Operation Dasha) that looked into the conduct of members of the former Canterbury City Council. There was no definition of serious in the provision.Īnother amendment is on the way to ensure proceedings do not drag out so badly again – via the imposition of self-imposed timelines. However, that is just a consequence of the ICAC Act being amended in 2015 – so that ICAC’s power was limited in making findings of “corrupt conduct” only in cases where there was serious corrupt conduct. It will be of little comfort to Berejiklian that she won’t be facing criminal charges, given ICAC’s finding that she engaged in “serious corrupt conduct”. “There have been stacks of attempts to reverse these findings, and they’ve just all ended in failure – because there is no challenge to the factual findings.” “In fact, the successful challenges to it are incredibly rare – and always limited to some sort of legal issue,” he said. And quite frankly, the grounds are very limited and the route to any reversal is narrow. “It’s an old-fashioned review of an administrative decision. “It’s not an appeal,” said former ICAC counsel Geoffrey Watson, SC. However, senior lawyers with extensive experience in ICAC matters, told AFR Weekend that the road to judicial review is heavily constrained.Īs an administrative decision, McColl’s findings can be challenged only if there is a substantial misstep in her fact-finding or conclusions of law. The application would be made before a judge of the Supreme Court, who would likely “remove” it to the Court of Appeal, where three or more judges would hear the matter. The next move, which will likely be led by Australia’s most sought-after silk – Bret Walker, SC – will be to challenge the adverse findings by the ICAC’s temporary commissioner, former NSW Supreme Court judge Ruth McColl.įormer NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian arrives at ICAC in October 2021. It has taken almost three years for the Berejiklian-Maguire saga to unfold, but another year or two in the courts is now on the cards.Īs the former NSW premier said in her first statement after the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption handed down its report on Thursday, the findings are “currently being examined by my legal team”.
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