The Owners - Strata Plan No. 70030 v Decon Australia Pty Ltd [2014] NSWSC 347

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: The Owners - Strata Plan No. 70030 v Decon Australia Pty Ltd [2014] NSWSC 347 Hearing dates: 12 December 2013 Decision date: 28 March 2014 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Schmidt J Decision: The Tribunal's orders of 10 February and 30 April 2013 be quashed and the proceedings be remitted to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to be dealt with according to Schedule 1, Clause 8 of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW). All exhibits and subpoenaed material may be returned forthwith; any exhibits returned must be retained intact by the party or person that produced the material until the expiry of the time to file an appeal, or until any appeal has been determined. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - judicial review - construction of Home Building Act 1989, s 48K - jurisdiction of Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal - whether plaintiff was denied procedural fairness - whether Tribunal had jurisdiction to deal with claim for an amount exceeding $500,000 - whether Tribunal fell into jurisdictional error in dismissing proceedings without considering challenge to its jurisdiction or the plaintiff's application for transfer of proceedings to Supreme Court - jurisdictional error established - whether discretion to refuse relied should be exercised Legislation Cited: Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW) Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act 2001 (NSW) Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (NSW) Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Aon Risk Services Australia Limited v Australian National University [2009] HCA 27; 239 CLR 175 Bailey & Anor v Owners Corporation of Strata Plan 62666 [2011] NSWCA 293 Craig v South Australia [1995] HCA 58; (1995) 184 CLR 163 Italiano v Carbone & Ors [2005] NSWCCA 177 Kirk v Industrial Relations Commission; Kirk Group Holdings Pty Ltd v WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Childs) [2010] HCA 1; 239 CLR 531 Category: Principal judgment Parties: The Owners - Strata Plan No. 70030 (Plaintiff) Decon Australia Pty Ltd ACN 078 021 333 (First Defendant) Eissa Soliman Tadros (Second Defendant) Afaf Aziz (Third Defendant) Shawki Hanna Gad (Fourth Defendant) Lily Aziz Gad (Fifth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr M Einfeld QC with Mr I George (Plaintiff) Mr R Notley (First Defendant) Mr T Davie (Second to Fifth Defendants) Solicitors: Buckner Jones (Plaintiff) Uther Webster & Evans (First Defendant) Peter Merity Solicitor Pty Ltd (Second to Fifth Defendants) File Number(s): 2013/00084320 Publication restriction: None