LEICESTER v WALTON [1995] NSWCA 257

LEICESTER v WALTON

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES — COURT OF APPEAL

PRIESTLEY JA 23 October 1995

[1995] NSWCA 257

Priestley JA. The Court has set down for hearing an appeal by the opponent in the Motion today against an order made by the Medical Tribunal suspending him from practice for a period.

On an earlier Motion, the President granted a stay of the suspension until the determination of the hearing of the appeal. On that application, some reference was made to a further complaint having been lodged against the opponent. The application today is by the claimant for leave to adduce fresh evidence at the hearing of the appeal. That fresh evidence concerns the further complaint which was mentioned at the earlier proceedings before the President.

Upon the matter coming on for hearing this morning, the claimant asked that the decision whether the further evidence could be adduced in the appeal be stood over for hearing for determination when the appeal comes on for hearing. That would leave the decision to be made by three Judges. That seems to me to be the preferable course in the circumstances which now obtain.

One of the circumstances is that it seems to me that probably the betterdecision on the question whether the further evidence should be heard in the appeal is that it should be. I am not by any means certain however that a Full Court, consisting of three Judges, on the hearing of the appeal would necessarily agree with this opinion of mine, if I were to make the order today.

The application to stand the matter over to the hearing of the appeal was opposed by the opponent appellant on several bases which have some merit. One is that the appellant had been brought here today, ready to argue the matter and wanted it disposed of. Another was that the subject matter of the complaint should preferably be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the relevant act and dealt with by the Tribunal before it became part of any proceedings in this Court.