A magistrate has no power to permanently stay committal proceedings and can only strike out charges at the conclusion of the committal hearing. An extension of time to appeal will be refused as futile where the proposed appeal has no prospects of success. Recusal applications require credible evidence of actual or apprehended bias; the fact that a judge previously appeared as counsel in a matter involving the applicant is not in itself evidence of bias.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.