Australia, July 18 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on June 17:

1. The Applicant, Mr Assi, was first granted a firearms licence in August 2008. His application cited that his reasons for seeking such a licence were sport/target shooting and recreational hunting/vermin control.

2. His firearms licence was revoked in December 2019 and that decision was affirmed on internal review on 11 September 2020.

3. On 16 August 2022, a delegate of the Respondent, the Commissioner of Police, NSW Police Force, having formed an opinion that the Applicant, Kamal Assi was "not a fit, in the public interest to have possession of a firearm, firearm parts or ammunition", signed a Firearms Prohibition Order (FPO) against Mr Assi under the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW), s 73(1).

4. The FPO, along with a Weapons Prohibition Order which is not reviewable and is not relevant to these proceedings, was personally served on Mr Assi several months later, on 5 January 2023. It was from that date that the FPO came into force: Firearms Act, s 73(2).

5. In these proceedings, Mr Assi seeks a review of the Commissioner's decision to make a firearms prohibition order against him. That decision is a reviewable decision: Firearms Act, s 75(f). The grounds on which Mr Assi brings his application are that he is a fit and proper person to possess a firearm or prohibited weapon, that he has never engaged in criminal activity, that he has previously held a firearms licence and was never in breach of any law while holding that licence and that, having been the subject of an FPO since 5 January 2023, Mr Assi had demonstrated that he is not a risk to the community.

Status of the substantive proceedings

6. Mr Assi applied to the Tribunal for a review of the Commissioner's decision to issue him with an FPO on 7 September 2024.

7. The application was listed for directions on 17 September 2024, at which time the Tribunal made a series of timetabling directions for the provision of evidence and submissions. Those directions have been subsequently amended and vacated in light of some delays in the hearing of the interlocutory application for confidentiality orders.

8. On 1 October 2024, the Commissioner filed a bundle of documents pursuant to the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (NSW), s 58.

9. The Commissioner filed a further tranche of documents pursuant to the Administrative Decisions Review Act, s 58 on 26 November 2024.

10. The matter will be listed for further directions to determine a timetable for the provision of evidence and submissions, as well as setting the date for a final hearing and I will make an order to that effect.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19767c603d42da8acc187cf3)

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