Abou-Hamad v The Residential Tribunal [2002] NSWSC 963

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Abou-Hamad v The Residential Tribunal [2002] NSWSC 963 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Common Law Division Administrative Law List FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 30025 of 2002 HEARING DATE(S) : 30 September 2002 JUDGMENT DATE : 30 September 2002

Bahia Betty Abou-Hamad (Plaintiff) PARTIES : v The Residential Tribunal (First Defendant) John Salman Jnr (Second Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Master Malpass

LOWER COURT The Residential Tribunal JURISDICTION : LOWER COURT 01/25732 FILE NUMBER(S) : LOWER COURT Mr S Forbes Presiding Member JUDICIAL OFFICER :

N/A (Plaintiff) COUNSEL : N/A (First Defendant) Mr A Rogers (Second Defendant) Star Carver & Sons (Plaintiff) SOLICITORS : I V Knight - Crown Solicitor - Submitting Appearance (First Defendant) Robertson Saxton Primrose Dunn (Second Defendant) CATCHWORDS : Appeal from Tribunal - incompetent - evidentiary deficiencies - no error of law. LEGISLATION CITED : Residential Tribunal Act 1998, s 16. CASES CITED : N/A DECISION : See Paragraph 14.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST Master Malpass

Monday 30 September 2002

30025 of 2002 – Bahia Betty Abou-Hamad v The Residential Tribunal & Anor

JUDGMENT

1 MASTER: The plaintiff was the tenant of premises known as 8/52 Birmingham Street, Merrylands pursuant to a Residential Tenancy Agreement (the agreement). She claims that during the period of her occupancy there was a burglary and that certain of her property was stolen. The loss was attributed to failure by the landlord to rectify a defective laundry window. 2 The burglary was said to have taken place on 13 February 2001 and the loss was quantified in a sum in the order of about $10,000. 3 An application for compensation was brought pursuant to s 16 of the Residential Tribunal Act 1998. The application was dated 12 June 2001 and was brought against John J Starr (Real Estate) Limited, (the landlord's agent). The court has been told that subsequently the landlord was added as a party. 4 During the period of her occupancy the plaintiff was engaged in legal studies. She was admitted as a solicitor on 13 July 2001. She made application to the Residential Tribunal (the Tribunal) for legal representation. This application was refused. The other parties were not legally represented. 5 The basis upon which the application was propounded before the Tribunal is not entirely clear but it had to be traduced from the contents of an affidavit sworn by the plaintiff. The Tribunal appears to have regarded the application as being founded on alleged breaches of the agreement. The plaintiff also says that an allegation of negligence was made. 6 There was a hearing on 1 February 2002. Evidence was taken and submissions were made. The court has been told that the proceedings were not recorded and accordingly no transcript is available. The Notice Of Order issued by the Tribunal contains the following:- "(1) The application is dismissed because: Having considered the material placed before it, the Tribunal is not satisfied (at the civil standard of proof) that the grounds required to make the orders sought have been established."