Can a Judge be disqualified from presiding over a case in court?

• Published date: 03 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Criminal Law, Court Procedure, Crime
• Law Firm: Criminal Defence Lawyers Australia
• Author: Ms Poppy Morandin

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has been accused of 'blatant judge-shopping' after seeking that a District Court Judge recuse himself from presiding over a sentence proceeding involving two co-accused young persons.

The recusal application concerned District Court Judge Sean Grant. The co-offenders are AF, JT, and BP (referred to under initials as the offences occurred when they were under 18, namely 15 years old).

The co-accused and the victim in the matters were all residential boarding students at a regional High School, living together in a dormitory.

The allegations regarding the co-offenders involved aggravated sexual assault in which JT inserted a lock into the victim's anus, on BP's instruction, as AF assisted in holding him down.

It also involved a separate incident in which BP dry humped the victim whilst he was on all fours, with this incident filmed and disseminated to a year 10 Snapchat group by AF.

BP was sentenced first on 14 September 2023. He was convicted and received a 3-year Community Correction Order (CCO) for each offence which both carried conditions to not commit any further offences and appear before the Court if required to do so.

CCOs are essentially good behaviour bonds, in which a conviction must be formally recorded, with various...