Doherty and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (Compensation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) considered an application by Mr. Robert John Doherty concerning a decision made by the Department of Defence on 9 March 1990, which found the Department liable to pay compensation for hypertension. The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (MRCC) was the respondent. The core of the dispute revolved around Mr. Doherty's intention and the Tribunal's jurisdiction to address the 1990 decision, which had been made in his favour.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to entertain Mr. Doherty's application, given that the matter he sought to agitate was the subject of a previous application before the Tribunal that had been withdrawn by him and taken to have been dismissed. The Tribunal was required to determine if Mr. Doherty was seeking to have the 1990 decision implemented or if he was attempting to reopen a previously dismissed application.

The Tribunal reasoned that Mr. Doherty's stated objective was to have the 1990 decision, which was in his favour, implemented, and he did not wish for it to be set aside. The Tribunal noted that Mr. Doherty had previously withdrawn an application, which was then taken to have been dismissed. Consequently, the Tribunal concluded that it was not open to Mr. Doherty to seek reinstatement of that previous application. The present application was therefore considered misconceived.

The Tribunal dismissed Mr. Doherty's application, finding that it lacked jurisdiction to proceed on the basis that the issue sought to be agitated was not the subject of the decision under review but rather a previously withdrawn and dismissed application.