Gough v Southern Queensland Regional Parole Board

[2008] QSC 222

Supreme Court of Queensland

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Administrative Law
2. › Judicial review
3. › Grounds of review
4. › Improper exercise of power
5. › Exercise of discretionary power in accordance with rule or policy without regard to merits
6. › Parole board refusing parole where recommended programs not completed in custody
7. › Whether Board failed to consider why programs not completed and whether they could be completed in community
8. › Judicial Review Act 1991 (Qld), ss 20(2)(e), 23(f)
9. › Corrective Services Act 2006 (Qld), s 227
1. Administrative Law
2. › Judicial review
3. › Grounds of review
4. › Wednesbury unreasonableness
5. › Whether decision so unreasonable that no reasonable person could so exercise the power
6. › Parole refusal where applicant assessed as low risk and had sought to complete programs
7. › Judicial Review Act 1991 (Qld), s 23(g)
1. Administrative Law
2. › Judicial review
3. › Grounds of review
4. › Natural justice
5. › Whether reliance on report prepared by correctional services employees amounted to denial of natural justice
6. › Whether bias of report-preparing panel contaminated decision of parole board
7. › Whether applicant given adequate opportunity to respond to adverse material
1. Administrative Law
2. › Judicial review
3. › Grounds of review
4. › Relevant and irrelevant considerations
5. › Whether complaint about weight given to considerations provides basis for judicial review
6. › Judicial Review Act 1991 (Qld), ss 23(a), 23(b)

Quick Take

A parole board that refuses parole on the basis that a prisoner has not completed recommended intervention programs must consider the reasons why the programs were not completed (including any failure by corrective services to offer them) and whether the programs could be completed in the community as a condition of parole. Failure to do so constitutes exercise of power in accordance with a rule or policy without regard to the merits of the case under s 23(f) of the Judicial Review Act 1991 (Qld). Complaints about the weight given by a parole board to various considerations do not provide a proper basis for judicial review.