Garling v Association to Resource Co-Operative Housing Co-Op Limited

The Court of Appeal of New South Wales considered an appeal by Mr Garling against a decision of the Compensation Court. The dispute concerned a claim for workers' compensation.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether it possessed jurisdiction to hear the appeal, specifically whether the Compensation Court had made an error of law, as opposed to an error of fact, in its determination. This distinction was crucial as the Compensation Court Act 1984 (NSW) limited appeals to the Court of Appeal to errors of law.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that a misconstruction or misunderstanding of evidence by the Compensation Court, which led to an incorrect factual conclusion, constituted an error of fact, not an error of law. Therefore, the Court of Appeal held that it did not have jurisdiction to entertain the appeal as it was based on alleged errors of fact.

The appeal was accordingly dismissed for want of jurisdiction.