The availability of judicial review of conditions of custody must flow from careful analysis of the statutory and regulatory scheme, not from the trial judge's power to control proceedings. The principle in Smith v Commissioner of Corrective Services [1978] 1 NSWLR 317 — that complaints about custody conditions should be directed to the trial judge — has no application to civil litigation. Legislation governing prison administration should be construed to give full scope to the broad discretion of correctional authorities, and a prisoner challenging custody conditions must demonstrate illegality, bad faith, improper purpose, or manifest unreasonableness, not merely that the conditions are suboptimal for litigation preparation. The Commissioner for Corrective Services, not the State of New South Wales, is the proper respondent in judicial review proceedings concerning custody conditions.
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