Flegg v Crime and Misconduct Commission & Anor

[2014] QCA 42

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Administrative Law
2. › Judicial review
3. › Unreasonableness
4. › Wednesbury unreasonableness as explained in Minister for Immigration v Li
5. › Whether decision lacked evident and intelligible justification
6. › Whether mitigating factors rationally supported suspended sanction
1. Administrative Law
2. › Review of discretionary decisions
3. › Disciplinary sanctions
4. › Police discipline
5. › Whether confirmation of wholly suspended demotion was unreasonable
6. › Police Service (Discipline) Regulations 1990 (Qld), s 12(1)
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Tribunals
3. › Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal
4. › Appeal from QCAT appeal tribunal to Court of Appeal
5. › Court exercising power to substitute its own decision
6. › Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld), s 153(2)(c)

Quick Take

The 'evident and intelligible justification' test from Li applies to review of police disciplinary sanctions, and a wholly suspended demotion may be upheld where mitigating factors (fatigue, being overtasked, reasonable assumptions, delay in proceedings) rationally support the decision, even where the underlying misconduct was very serious. A suspended sanction is itself a meaningful sanction and does not require special or exceptional circumstances.