Hamod v State of New South Wales and Anor [2011] NSWCA 375

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Hamod v State of New South Wales and Anor [2011] NSWCA 375 Hearing dates: 18-20 July 2011 Decision date: 06 December 2011 Before: Beazley JA at [1]; Giles JA at [829]; Whealy JA at [830] Decision: 1. Appeal dismissed; 2. The appellant to pay the respondents' costs of the appeal. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: TORTS - false arrest and false imprisonment - absence of reasonable suspicion to arrest - appellant arrested following investigation by police into allegations that he was attempting to sell a fake certificate of guarantee for platinum - evidence did not establish cause of action

TORTS - malicious prosecution - absence of reasonable and probable cause for prosecution - whether reasonable basis for prosecutor's belief - one charge withdrawn - one charge dismissed - acquitted on remaining charge - evidence did not establish cause of action

TORTS - injurious falsehood - evidence subject to immunity - cause of action not established

TORTS - conspiracy to injure by lawful means - conspiracy to injure by unlawful means - evidence did not establish causes of action

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - procedural fairness - whether trial judge's descriptions of appellant's evidence and comments upon the magistrate's reasons breached procedural fairness - trial judge considered evidence having regard to its relevance, weight and sufficiency - trial judge's comments upon magistrate's reasons not integral to dismissal of appellant's causes of action - no denial of procedural fairness