Di Gregorio v Ohanessian [2021] NSWDC 100

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Di Gregorio v Ohanessian [2021] NSWDC 100 Hearing dates: 19 March 2021 Date of orders: 31 March 2021 Decision date: 31 March 2021 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Scotting DCJ Decision: 1. The appeal is dismissed. 2. I confirm the orders of the Assessor. 3. The plaintiff is to pay the defendant's costs of the appeal, as agreed or assessed. Catchwords: APPEALS – procedural fairness – grounds not made out – appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Local Court Act 2007 Cases Cited: Russell v Wilson (1923) 33 CLR 538 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Anthony Di Gregorio (Plaintiff) Maral Ohanessian (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: A Conwell (Plaintiff)

Solicitor: John de Mestre & Co Pty Ltd (Defendant) File Number(s): 2020/356141 Publication restriction: None Decision under appeal Court or tribunal: Local Court of NSW Jurisdiction: Small Claims Division Date of Decision: 23 November 2020 Before: Assessor E Keir File Number(s): 2020/222436

Judgment

Introduction 1. This is an appeal from an Assessor in the Small Claims Division of the Local Court, brought pursuant to s 39(2) Local Court Act 2007 and is limited to an appeal based on a lack of jurisdiction or a denial of procedural fairness. 2. On 23 November 2020 the Assessor made an order that the plaintiff, Anthony Di Gregorio, deliver a dog, "Xena" a female American Staffordshire Terrier (the dog), to the defendant, Maral O'Hanessian, on the basis that she was the owner of the dog. 3. The plaintiff appeals from that decision on both of the grounds provided for by s 39(2).