Property tycoon Charif Kazal has lost his bid to have the Supreme Court declare that ICAC exceeded its jurisdiction when it handed down a corrupt conduct finding against him.

Corrupt conduct findings were made against Mr Kazal and Andrew Kelly, a former executive of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA), in December 2011.

ICAC said it was satisfied that Mr Kazal provided more than $11,000 for Mr Kelly's 2007 trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and hinted about a job for him.

Mr Kazal did this with the intention to "influence Mr Kelly to exercise his official SHFA functions in a manner favourable to the Kazal business interests", it found.

But while the commission found Mr Kazal's conduct could constitute an offence, it also said there was not sufficient admissible evidence to prosecute him.

In a civil hearing before the NSW Supreme Court earlier this week, Mr Kazal's barrister Robert Sutherland, SC, said this created "tension", which invalidated the corrupt conduct finding as the two facts could not stand together.

Mr Kazal had called for a declaration that the commission's report was made "without jurisdiction or in excess of jurisdiction and was a nullity" and that the findings were "wrong in law".

But in a judgment handed down on Thursday, Justice Ian Harrison found that: "the validity of the Commission's finding of corrupt conduct ... is not tied to the certainty of a criminal conviction".

"The effect of Mr Kazal's submission would appear to be that in proceeding to a finding of corrupt conduct ... the Commission was not entitled to rely upon evidence that would be inadmissible in a criminal trial.

"The authorities do not support that proposition," he said.

In a hearing earlier this week, ICAC's barrister, Todd Alexis, SC, said the commission was not bound by the rules or practice of evidence as material gathered during an inquiry - such as a confession - could not always be used in subsequent criminal proceedings.

Mr Kazal's summons was dismissed with costs.