Mehajer v Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government [2014] NSWSC 1804

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Mehajer v Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government [2014] NSWSC 1804 Hearing dates: 1 October 2014 Decision date: 19 December 2014 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Adams J Decision: 1.The decision of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of 29 May 2014 is set aside; 2.in lieu thereof, Councillor Mehajer is reprimanded and his right to be paid any fee or other remuneration to which he would otherwise be entitled as the holder of civic office is suspended for the period of three months dating from, and including, the date of the next payment due (without suspending him from civic office for that period). 3.The parties to make written submissions as to costs. Catchwords: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - appeal - appeal from decision of Civil and Administrative Tribunal - suspension of local government councillor - penalties available - distinction between penalties preventing councillor from carrying out civic duties and other penalties - absence of dishonesty or intentional concealment - miscarriage of tribunal's discretion - resentence Legislation Cited: Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (NSW), Sch 5 s 29(4)(b), s 29(7), s 29(8) Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), s 449(1), s 449(1A), s 451(1), s 482(1) Cases Cited: Office of Local Government v Mehajer [2014] NSWCATOD 64 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Salim Mehajer (plaintiff) Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government (defendant) Representation: Counsel: J Kay Hoyle (plaintiff) A M Mitchelmore/B Mostafa (defendant) Solicitors: KM Legal Pty Ltd (plaintiff) Office of Local Government (defendant) File Number(s): 2014/189468 Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 150002 Citation: Office of Local Government v Mehajer [2014] NSWCATOD 64 Date of Decision: 2014-05-29 00:00:00 Before: Hon W Haylen QC, Deputy President File Number(s): 1420095