New South Wales v Koumdjiev

The New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal by the State of New South Wales against a decision concerning an alleged assault and false arrest. The dispute arose from the actions of police officers who entered the entrance hall of an apartment block and arrested Mr. Koumdjiev. The core of the matter involved whether the police were trespassing when they entered the common area of the apartment building and whether the subsequent arrest was lawful.

The Court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, it had to consider whether the police officers were lawfully entitled to enter the entrance hall of the apartment block, which was a common area, without the consent of all tenants in common. Secondly, the Court had to determine whether, in light of the entry, the arrest of Mr. Koumdjiev constituted a lawful exercise of police powers or an unlawful act amounting to false arrest.

In its reasoning, the Court applied principles relating to property law and the rights of tenants in common. It held that a tenant in common possesses a right to occupy and use common areas of a property. Crucially, the Court found that one tenant in common cannot unilaterally revoke a licence granted by another tenant in common to enter such common areas. Therefore, the police, having been granted a licence to enter by a tenant in common, were not trespassing. Consequently, their entry was lawful, and the subsequent arrest of Mr. Koumdjiev was also lawful. The appeal was dismissed with costs.