Environment Protection Authority v ACE Demolition & Excavation Pty Ltd; Allam [2022] NSWLEC 45

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Environment Protection Authority v ACE Demolition & Excavation Pty Ltd; Allam [2022] NSWLEC 45 Hearing dates: 4, 5, 24 and 25 August, 27 and 28 September 2021 Date of orders: 10 May 2022 Decision date: 10 May 2022 Jurisdiction: Class 5 Before: Moore J Decision: See directions at [142] and [143] Catchwords: EVIDENCE - Prosecutor serves Defendants with text or WhatsApp conversations obtained from the mobile phone of Mr Sami Allam - messages grouped in seventeen categories of message conversations - Prosecutor identifies the matter for which each group of message conversations is said to demonstrate - some message conversations proposed to be relied upon in more than one category identified by the Prosecutor - some messages proposed to be relied upon by the Prosecutor for hearsay purposes - advance rulings sought by the Defendants pursuant to s 192A of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) concerning admissibility of the text messages and WhatsApp conversations - if admissible, Defendants seek restrictions on the use of the messages - agreement between Prosecutor and Defendants on the terms of Consent Orders concerning the majority of the categories identified by the Prosecutor - Consent Orders made concerning the agreed categories - agreement between the Prosecutor and the Defendants concerning proposed hearsay uses - Consent Orders made concerning proposed hearsay uses - admissibility rulings made concerning text and/or WhatsApp message proposed to be relied upon in disputed categories Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995, s 192A Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 Cases Cited: Adam v The Queen (2001) 207 CLR 96; [2001] HCA 57 Environment Protection Authority v Allam [2021] NSWLEC 103 Environment Protection Authority v Allam (No 2) [2022] NSWLEC 7 Environment Protection Authority v ACE Demolition & Excavation Pty Ltd [2022] NSWLEC 44 Meridian Global Funds Management Asia Ltd v Securities Commission [1995] 2 AC 500 Papakosmas v The Queen (1999) 196 CLR 297; [1999] HCA 37 R v Shamouil (2006) 66 NSWLR 228; [2006] NSWCCA 112 Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass [1972] AC 153 Tiger Nominees Pty Ltd v State Pollution Control Commission (1992) 25 NSWLR 715 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Environment Protection Authority (Prosecutor and Respondent on the motion) ACE Demolition & Excavation Pty Ltd (First Defendant and First Applicant on the motion) Sami Allam (Second Defendant and Second Applicant on the motion) Representation: Counsel: Mr D Buchanan SC/Ms F Graham, barrister (Prosecutor and Respondent on the motion) Mr J Potts SC/Ms K Morris, barrister (Defendants and Applicants on the motion)