Commissioner of Police for New South Wales v Lawrance & Anor [2011] NSWCA 377

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Commissioner of Police for New South Wales v Lawrance & Anor [2011] NSWCA 377 Hearing dates: 14 November 2011 Decision date: 08 December 2011 Before: Beazley JA at 1 McColl JA at 2 Sackville AJA at 3 Decision: 1) The applicant's summons dated 24 August 2011 is dismissed. 2) The applicant pay the first respondent's costs of the summons. [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: JUDICIAL REVIEW - Police sergeant seeks review of Commissioner's decision removing him from the Police Force - Industrial Relations Commission ("IRC") finds removal harsh and directs Commissioner to re-employ the former sergeant at the lower rank of Senior Constable - whether the IRC's decision affected by jurisdictional error - whether s 89(2) of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 empowers the IRC to direct re-employment of a former police officer at a lower rank - whether there was evidence to support IRC's finding that re-employment was practicable. Legislation Cited: Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth)

Industrial Arbitration Act 1940 Industrial Arbitration (Unfair Dismissal) Amendment Act 1991 Industrial Relations Act 1991 Industrial Relations Act 1996 Police Act 1990 Cases Cited: Blackadder v Ramsey Butchering Services Pty Ltd [2005] HCA 22; 221 CLR 539 Commissioner of Police for New South Wales v Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales [2009] NSWCA 198; 185 IR 458 Director General, New South Wales Department of Health v Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales [2010] NSWCA 47; 77 NSWLR 159 Kirk v Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales [2010] HCA 1; 239 CLR 531 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Commissioner of Police (Applicant) Andrew Lawrance (First Respondent) Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales (Second Respondent) Representation: M Kimber SC; I Taylor (Applicant) S Crawshaw SC; P Lowson (First Respondent) Henry Davis York (Applicant) Walter Madden Jenkins Solicitors (First Respondent) File Number(s): 2011/272943 Publication restriction: No Decision under appeal Citation: Commissioner of Police v Lawrance [2011] NSWIRComm 109 Date of Decision: 2011-08-17 00:00:00 Before: Boland J, President; Kavanagh J; Staff J File Number(s): 2011/272943