Hussain v Farhmand

In the case of Hussain v Farhmand, the appellant, Mr Hussain, sought to appeal the decision of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) out of time. The original decision, rendered by General President Crebbin in August 2015, ordered Mr Hussain to pay $1,788.90 in unpaid wages to Mr Farhmand. The tribunal's decision was appealed to the Appeal Tribunal, but the appeal was dismissed by Appeal President Stefaniak in November 2015. Mr Hussain subsequently applied to the Supreme Court of the ACT for leave to appeal out of time, which was dismissed by Associate Justice Mossop in June 2016. In May 2017, Mr Hussain filed an application for leave to appeal out of time to the ACAT, which was the subject of the present proceedings.

The primary legal issues before the tribunal were whether Mr Hussain should be granted leave to appeal out of time and whether the ACAT should rehear the case. The tribunal considered the relevant principles for granting an extension of time to appeal, including the importance of time limits, the applicant's explanation for delay, any prejudice to the respondent, the merits of the proposed appeal, and the demands of justice.

The tribunal found that Mr Hussain's reasons for delay were not persuasive and that he had not provided a compelling case for an extension of time to appeal. The tribunal also found that Mr Farhmand had been prejudiced by the delays caused by Mr Hussain's failure to participate in the proceedings and that the merits of the proposed appeal were weak. The tribunal concluded that there was no miscarriage of justice if the application for leave to appeal out of time was dismissed.

The tribunal dismissed Mr Hussain's application for leave to appeal out of time and ordered that the appeal be dismissed. The tribunal also ordered that Mr Hussain file and serve any written submissions by 2 January 2018 as to why the tribunal should not direct that he not make any further application arising from the tribunal's decision of 10 August 2015 without the leave of the tribunal. The respondent, Mr Farhmand, was ordered to file and serve any submissions in reply by 9 January 2018, and Mr Hussain was ordered to file and serve any submissions in reply by 16 January 2018.