Markan v Bar Association of Queensland

[2014] QCA 34

Queensland Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Bias and recusal
3. › Apprehended bias
4. › Professional connections between judge and party
5. › Whether professional contact between judge and Bar Association gave rise to reasonable apprehension of bias
6. › Whether traditional links between judiciary and Bar preclude impartial determination
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Striking out
3. › Frivolous and vexatious proceedings
4. › Whether claim and statement of claim disclosed cause of action
5. › Indemnity costs
1. Appeal
2. › General principles
3. › Right of appeal
4. › Appeal from refusal to recuse
5. › Whether primary judge erred in declining to recuse himself

Quick Take

A judge's professional connections with a Bar association — including teaching in Bar practice courses, attending and speaking at Bar association conferences, and having a family member who is a member of the Bar association — do not, without more, give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias. The traditional and inevitable links between the judiciary and the Bar, and the high ethical traditions of both, are relevant contextual factors in assessing apprehended bias.