Bashour v ANZ

The applicant, Bashour, brought an application for leave to appeal decisions of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The dispute involved discovery orders made by the Tribunal, and the applicant contended that the Tribunal denied them procedural fairness by not considering further authority and submissions provided on a point of law. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The central legal issues before the court were whether the Tribunal had indeed denied the applicant procedural fairness and, if so, whether leave to appeal should be granted on other grounds of appeal.

The court considered the arguments presented and found that the Tribunal had indeed denied the applicant procedural fairness by failing to consider the additional authority and submissions provided. This was a significant error that affected the fairness of the proceedings. The court noted that the Tribunal had requested further authority and the applicant had provided it, but the Tribunal did not adequately consider the new material. The court also examined whether leave to appeal should be granted on other grounds, but found that the orders in question were interlocutory, the applicant was essentially asking the Court to substitute its view for the Tribunal's, and the grounds of appeal did not raise issues of general or public importance nor did they have any real prospect of success.

In conclusion, the court granted leave to appeal on the ground of the Tribunal denying procedural fairness but denied leave to appeal on other grounds. The appeal was allowed on the ground of procedural unfairness, but the court did not exercise its discretion to grant leave to appeal on the other grounds of appeal as they did not meet the necessary criteria. The decision was based on the provisions of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 and the principles set out in Cargill Australia Ltd v Viterra Malt Pty Ltd [2018] VSCA 260.