Attorney General of New South Wales v Air Conditioning Engineering Services Pty Ltd [2013] NSWCCA 300

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Attorney General of New South Wales v Air Conditioning Engineering Services Pty Ltd [2013] NSWCCA 300 Hearing dates: 20 June 2013 Decision date: 02 December 2013 Before: Bathurst CJ at [1]; Beazley P at [21]; Hoeben CJ at CL at [22] Decision: 1. Appeal dismissed. Catchwords: INDUSTRIAL LAW - criminal procedure - prosecution under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 - requirement that proceedings be instituted by persons including inspector - whether inspector in fact instituted prosecutions. INDUSTRIAL LAW - criminal procedure -Criminal Procedure Act 1986 s 246 - District Court Rules 1973 Pt 53 r 26 - whether application and statement of facts are required to be signed by the inspector. INDUSTRIAL LAW - criminal procedure - failure to correctly institute proceedings - whether Criminal Procedure Act s 16(2) can operate to validate proceedings. INDUSTRIAL LAW - criminal procedure - Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 - failure to particularise - whether charges disclose offence known to law - whether charges can be saved or amended. JURISIDICTION - appeal - Criminal Appeal Act 1912 s 5C - notice of contention - whether Court of Criminal Appeal has power to consider issues in notice of contention. Legislation Cited: Criminal Appeal Act 1912, s 5C Criminal Procedure Act 1986, ss 3, 16, 246 District Court Rules 1973, Pt 53 r 26 Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, s 8 Cases Cited: Attorney General of New South Wales v Built NSW Pty Ltd [2013] NSWCCA 299 John Holland Pty Ltd v Industrial Court of New South Wales [2010] NSWCA 338; (2010) 202 IR 82 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Attorney General of New South Wales (Appellant) Air Conditioning Engineering Services Pty Ltd (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: J V Agius SC, B G Docking and D B O'Neil (on behalf of the Attorney General of New South Wales) I Taylor SC and S Boland (Respondent) Solicitors: WorkCover Authority of NSW (Attorney General of New South Wales) Ashurst Australia (Respondent) File Number(s): 2012/172568 2012/171845 Publication restriction: No Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 9101 Date of Decision: 2012-11-29 00:00:00 Before: Curtis DCJ File Number(s): 2012/172568 2012/171845