King v Ombudsman

This case concerned an appeal brought by Mr King against decisions made by the Ombudsman. The dispute arose from complaints made by Mr Adamson regarding Mr King's conduct, specifically concerning access to meeting minutes and the accuracy of those minutes. Mr Adamson also raised issues about the convening of a special general meeting. The Ombudsman conducted an investigation into these matters.

The legal issues before the court were whether the Ombudsman had acted within its jurisdiction in conducting the 2016 investigation and a proposed 2017 investigation, and whether the Ombudsman's decisions in relation to these investigations were amenable to judicial review. A key aspect of the appeal involved whether certain allegations made by Mr Adamson constituted fresh complaints requiring a new investigation under the relevant Act.

The court reasoned that the allegations concerning the 8 March 2017 meeting were not a fresh complaint but rather a response to Mr King's explanation regarding the failure to convene a special general meeting. These allegations were considered to shed light on the merit of the earlier complaints. Consequently, the court found that section 16(1) of the Ombudsman Act, which deals with fresh complaints, did not apply. The court rejected the challenges made by Mr King to both the 2016 and the proposed 2017 investigations.

The appeal was dismissed. While the Ombudsman was partially successful on matters raised in its notice of contention, no specific orders were made in that regard.