Jamal Amgad v Stephen William Cairns

Court of Appeal

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

Jamal Amgad v Stephen William Cairns [2022] NSWCA 239

Hearing dates:

21 November 2022

Date of orders:

21 November 2022

Decision date:

21 November 2022

Before:

White JA

Decision:

Application dismissed with no order as to costs

Catchwords:

CIVIL PROCEDURE – Hearings – notice of motion seeking an order to vacate hearing date – unrepresented litigant – no realistic prospect of obtaining pro bono legal assistance or the consent of a person to act as a tutor – notice of motion dismissed

Legislation Cited:

Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 3, 56-58, 67

Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), rr 7.14, 7.36

Cases Cited:

Amgad v Cairns [2022] NSWCA 101

Jamal v Director of Public Prosecutions [2013] NSWCA 355

Category:

Procedural rulings

Parties:

Jamal Amgad (Applicant)
Stephen William Cairns (Respondent)

Representation:

Counsel:
Applicant self-represented
No appearance for Respondent

Solicitors:
Applicant self-represented
No appearance for Respondent

File Number(s):

2022/14115

JUDGMENT

1. HIS HONOUR: On 24 March 2022 the applicant, Mr Jamal Amgad, filed a summons seeking leave to appeal from orders of the District Court (Robison DCJ) of 21 December 2021 summarily dismissing his proceedings against the respondent, Mr Stephen Cairns.

2. That summons seeking leave to appeal is listed for hearing on 1 December 2022. By notice of motion filed 7 November 2022 Mr Amgad seeks an order vacating the hearing date until he can find a legal representative to help him with his case. I am now dealing with that notice of motion. There was no appearance for Mr Cairns on the hearing of the application but I am satisfied that a copy of the notice of motion and supporting affidavit was forwarded to Mr Cairns’ work email address.

3. In support of his application, Mr Amgad relies on his affidavit dated 7 October 2022, which may well be a typographical error for 7 November 2022 because attached to his affidavit is correspondence on which he relies dated 14 and 17 October 2022. Mr Amgad attaches a report of an accredited mental health social worker, Dr Jacqueline Youssef, and correspondence from a consultant psychologist, Mr Carlos Comacho, both of whom state that Mr Amgad has been diagnosed by a clinical psychologist, Dr Rose Cantali, as suffering from schizophrenia, post traumatic stress disorder and depression. Dr Youssef expresses the belief that Mr Amgad is mentally unstable and not fit to represent himself in court. In her report of 17 October 2022 she recommends that the court help by finding him legal assistance or referring him to Legal Aid. Mr Comacho states that in his opinion Mr Amgad is psychologically incapable of representing himself due to severe psychological symptoms and that for him to do so might cause his health to deteriorate.

4. The respondent, Mr Cairns, is a barrister. He represented Mr Amgad in proceedings in this Court in which Mr Amgad sought judicial review of orders made by the District Court dismissing his appeal from a conviction by the Local Court of…