Camp v Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee

In *Camp v Legal Practitioners Complaints Committee*, the Full Federal Court considered an appeal by Mr. Camp against a decision of the National Native Title Tribunal. The dispute concerned the Tribunal's refusal to grant Mr. Camp's application for a determination of native title over certain land and waters in Western Australia. Mr. Camp sought to have his native title recognised over an area he claimed was the traditional country of his Indigenous group.

The primary legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether the Tribunal had erred in law by failing to adequately consider and give sufficient weight to the evidence presented by Mr. Camp regarding his connection to the claimed area. Specifically, the court had to determine if the Tribunal's findings were supported by the evidence and if its assessment of the evidence was reasonable in the context of the *Native Title Act 1993* (Cth).

The Full Federal Court found that the Tribunal had indeed erred in law. Their Honours held that the Tribunal had not properly engaged with the entirety of the evidence, particularly concerning the oral history and traditional laws and customs presented by Mr. Camp and his witnesses. The court reiterated the principle that native title determinations must be based on a holistic assessment of all admissible evidence, and that the Tribunal must demonstrate that it has considered and weighed all relevant evidence, including traditional evidence, in reaching its conclusions. The court concluded that the Tribunal's findings were not open to it on the evidence before it.

Consequently, the Full Federal Court set aside the Tribunal's decision and remitted the matter back to the National Native Title Tribunal for redetermination according to law.