Re O'Donnell & Ors; Ex parte The Hellenic Club of Canberra Limited
[1988] HCATrans 7
IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Registry No C2 of 1988 In the matter of - An application for a writ of prohibition against BERNARD
O'DONNELL, JOHN BARRY and
BARRY COOKE
First Respondents
THE FEDERATED LIQUOR AND ALLIED
INDUSTRIES EMPLOYEES UNION OF
AUSTRALIA
Second Respondent
Ex parte -
THE HELLENIC CLUB OF CANBERRA
LIMITED
Applicant
Hellenic WILSON J
( In Chambers) TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
AT CANBERRA ON MONDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 1988, AT 2.16PM
Copyright in the High Court of Australia
C3Tl/l/RB 1 15/2/88 MR J.F. BOULTBEE: In this matter, I appear for the applicant/
prosecutor. (instructed by Callens)
MR W. HAYLEN: May it please Your Honour, I appear for the second respondent. (instructed by R.L. Whyburn
& Associates)
HIS HONOUR: Yes, Mr Boultbee. I have read the papers. It may assist you in coming straight to the questions
that arise.
MR BOULTBEE: Thank you, Your Honour. Does Your Honour need me to read the affidavits that are with the application?
HIS HONOUR: No. I have read them, Mr Boultbee, but draw from them the salient facts that you wish to rely on.
MR BOULTBEE: Very well. Your Honour, there are, in fact, three affidavits, two of which were filed only this morning.
Does Your Honour have those later ones?
HIS HONOUR: Yes. MR BOULTBEE: And you have read them as well? HIS HONOUR: Yes.
MR BOULTBEE: Thank you, Your Honour. The matter relates to the proceedings before a Board of Reference
established by clause 42 of the Liquor and Allied
Industries Hotels, Hostels, Clubs and Boarding
Establishments Etc. (A.C.T.) Consolidated Award. A Board of Reference was appointed by clause 42 of that award pursuant to the power in section 50 of
| Tl | the CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT. |
There was a dispute between the Hellenic Club,
the applicant, and one of its employees which involved the relevant Union. The Union referred the dispute to
the Board. The dispute, shortly stated, Your Honour, concerns the dismissal of an employee and the matter before the Board was in effect a reinstatement
application. When the matter came before the Board,
as Your Honour has seen from the papers, the Board
consisted of the Deputy Industrial Registrar,
Mr O'Donnell, Mr John Barry, the employee's representative
and representative of the Union, and Mr Barry Cooke
representing the employer, that is the Hellenic Club.
HIS HONOUR: What was thepurpose of the hearing on 22 December? It does not appear to have been with a view to hearing the matter.
MR BOULTBEE: It seems, Your Honour, that it was a preliminary
hearing to establish the length of time for the
hearing and so on, but on that date the Board did notembark on a hearing of any evidence, although one of C3T2/l/RB 15/2/88 Hellenic the points which the applicant/prosecutor will make
is that Mr Barry in his position as advocate for the
employee and the Union did address the Board on some of the facts to which he was party and eventually the applicant/prosecutor will say that not only do we
have in this situation a member of the Board who is
in effect a judge, or a decision maker; that member
was also assuming the role of the prosecutor and, to
an extent, although not giving sworn evidence, advising
the Board from the bar table or from the bench ofmatters of which he had personal knowledge.
HIS HONOUR: But if that was the only thing you had going for the application, Mr Boultbee, it would not be very
strong, would it, if, provided that when the matter
came on for hearing in February the the Union was
represented by another advocate and Mr Barry was - I
presume he sat on the bench at all times, has he?
MR BOULTBEE: Yes, he did, Your Honour. HIS HONOUR: But 22 December would have been seen in that perspective simply as a clarification of the issues
and there would not be serious objection perhaps to
Mr Barry simply elucidating the issues, provided that
the matter was then adjourned for the hearing to take
place in February. So it is really what happened in February that is the critical thing.
MR BOULTBEE: That is right, Your Honour. In February, the
applicant before Your Honour was represented by counsel.
The Board was constituted as it had previously been
with Mr Barry sitting on the Board and Mr Barry
announced an appearance on behalf of the employee as
well. It did not get to the stage where any
embarking on the issues was done so it is not a case
where we can say that Mr Barry has been in the
position of a witness or addressed the Board on the
date of the hearing in February as to the issues, but
representative or the advocate for the employee and simply that having announced an appearance as the the Union whilst a member of the Board itself, we would say that the appearance of natural justice being done - there could be no appearance of natural justice being done in line with the authorities such as REG V WATSON, EX PARTE ARMSTRONG and the following cases.
HIS HONOUR: Yes. You would need to construe the principles of natural justice in their application to a Board of Reference in the light of the particular character
and function of that body. Where a body is composed of representatives of the adversaries, then obviously
the principles of natural justice must undergo somemodification because it could be said that the whole
C3T2/2/RB 3 15/2/88 Hellenic purpose of a Board of Reference or other body
constituted with an independent chairman and
representatives of the parties is designed in that
way in order to facilitate the function of the body
by allowing for a degree of negotiation as well as
| T2 | adjudication. |
MR BOULTBEE: Yes, Your Honour. It depends on the function that the Board is at the time administering as to
whether the principles relating to natural justice
come into play. Your Honour referred to adjudication. That is what we would say was the function that the
Board was to undertake in this hearing.
HIS HONOUR: Was it not to resolve a dispute? MR BOUTLBEE: Indeed, Your Honour, there having been attempts at negotiation between the parties as is referred to
in the affidavits and the letter from the Union to
the Industrial Registrar but it was in a situation
where a decision under clause 42 of the award was
the likely end result of the hearing before the Board,
such a decision being one which would affect the
rights of the individuals, namely the Hellenic Club
and Mr Wright,the employee concerned, and as such, Your Honour, the applicant would say that the Board
was acting judicially or would be acting judicially
in coming to that decision in such a way as to bring
the rules of natural justice into play.
I refer Your Honour to clause 42 of the award and to the functions of the Board thereunder and
under subclause (f):
The Board of Reference is empowered to deal
with the following matters:
(i) The settlement of disputes on any matters
arising out of the award.
(ii) Matters specifically assigned to it by the Commission.
Perhaps consistent with the power of the award maker granted by section 50 of the CONCILIATION AND
ARBITRATION ACT and where the matter is a dispute between a particular employer and a particular employee
and the Board is sitting to hear evidence, to hear
argument and to come to a decision on the dispute, a
dispute which arose from a dismissal, it is very much
the type of case which involves the rights of parties
and brings the matter within the realms of Lord Atkins'statement in the ELECTRICITY COMMISSIONERS' case.
It would be different, Your Honour, were it a
matter of the Board of Reference making some decision
in relation to conditions or some provision relating
C3T3/l/RB 4 15/2/88 Hellenic to the workplace rather than a particular dispute
in which it is set up, as it were, in an adversarialway with appearances being taken for the employer
and for the employee and evidence being called about
incidents relating to that employee in his employ,
it gives the whole hearing the character of a hearing
that will affect the rights of the individuals in
which the Board would, of necessity, be acting in a
judicial way.
HIS HONOUR: I notice the Chairman remarked, Mr Boultbee, in
not be a member of the Board,that it was common
practice for members of the Board to act as advocates.giving his decision on the application that Mr Barry been the subject of any court decision?
MR BOULTBEE: Not to my knowledge, Your Honour. I could well stand corrected on that matter, but there are cases
where Boards of Reference have come before the court
and before the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission
but not one which adverts to that parctice that I know
of, Your Honour.
HIS HONOUR: Has the question of natural justice, to your knowledge, been discussed in the context of
participatory boards, if I can use that expression?
MR BOULTBEE: Your Honour, there are some references in the textbooks to natural justice applying before boards.
There has been a decision in this Court where there
was a writ of prohibition sought in relation to a
Board of Reference but on a different point,
Your Honour, on the question of ultra vires on the
basis of- - -
HIS HONOUR: The judicial power -HEGARTY's case. But that is quite different. It comes on an entirely independent
basis. I was just concerned as to whether the question of natural justice and the application of
the principles to a Board have been discussed, bearing
in mind the representative character of two of the members of the Board.
MR BOULTBEE: Your Honour, in a case before the industrial court, in the list of authorities, Your Honour - but it is
the case being one of DALGETY AND COMPANY LIMITED V
reported at (1922) 16 CAR 102 - that Your Honour
obliquely refers to the question of natural justice
and boards of reference. In that decision the court
looked at the type of matters which the court would take into account where an appeal to the court were properly before it from a decision of the board and
in the note of the case that appears in Mr Mills'
fifth edition at page 223, it is said that:
C3T4/l/RB 5 15/2/88 Hellenic A determination of a Board of Reference
will be disallowed or referred back for
further hearing if:
(a) A proper quorum was not present; (b) Due notice of the hearing was not given to all members of the Board and all parties
affected;
(c) The Board refused to hear material evidence of the representatives of any party;
(d) The Board dealt with claims of which the party affected had not due notice, or
(e) The Board acted on a misconception of the claims or of its functions and powers.
That, Your Honour, recognizes that - some of the
elements there are elements of natural justice which
the court recognized as matters which the Board would
have been in error if they had not taken those
natural justice steps.
I think that is as close as it gets to a decision
that boards of reference specifically must follow the
rules of natural justice. I would argue, Your Honour, that because of its functions when performing the
function that it was performing in this case it would
be the type of tribunal to which the rules of natural
justice would apply and I would, Your Honour, take
Your Honour to the authorities, starting with case and perhaps, Your Honour, the statement of
Mr Justice Mason as he then was in KIOA V THE MINISTER,
159.CLR 550, and in that case, Your Honour, His Honour
was looking at the type of proceedings and the type
of tribunals which would attract the rules of natural
justice, in particular in relation to administrative
decision making, and I take Your Honour to page 583 where His Honour said:
It has been said on many occasions that natural
justice and fairness are to be equated -
and refers to some authorities.
And it has been recognized that in the context
of administrative decision-making it is more
appropriate to speak of a duty to act fairlyor to accord procedural fairness. This is
because the expression "natural justice" has
been associated, perhaps too closely associated,
with procedures followed by courts of law.
The developing application of the doctrine of
C3T4/2/RB 6 15/2/88 Hellenic natural justice in the field of administrative
decision-making has been very largely achieved
by reference to the presence of characteristics
which have been thought to reflect important
characteristics of judicial decision-making.
The effect of Atkin L.J. 's influential
observations in R. ELECTRICITY COMMISSIONERS;
| T4 | EX PARTE LONDON ELECTRICITY JOINT COMMITTEE CO. |
| was to focus attention on those elements in the | |
| making of administrative decisions which are | |
| analogous to judicial determination as a means | |
| of determining whether the rules of natural | |
| justice apply in a particular case. |
I would rely on what His Honour says there. His Honour
goes on to look in some more detail as to where the
boundary lies but, Your Honour, I would submit that
because of the matters that I have mentioned and thefunction that the Board was undertaking, it is very
much a matter where the Board is making an
administrative decision which has the elements
analogous to judicial determination for the reasons
that I have mentioned.
If it is seen that the obligation upon a Board
is as expressed by His Honour Mr Justice Mason as he
then was as being a duty to act fairly or to accord
procedural justice, it is my submission that there
can be no appearance of acting fairly or procedural
fairness where, as it were, the prosecutor or a party
is also a member of the decision-making body. Where the decision will affect the rights of the parties it is, with respect, a classic example of a person
being a judge in his own cause as it were.
There are authorities to which I could take
Your Honour if Your Honour should so wish to the effect
that a prosecutor should not be a judge and that it is,
in the language of the older cases, a breach of natural justice or inconsistent with the duty to act fairly, in the words of His Honour Mr Justice Mason.
HIS HONOUR: I do not want to hear you on the general principles, Mr Boultbee. Perhaps you might just tell me what
cases you had in mind, but do not go to them.
MR BOULTBEE: Your Honour, there is the decision of DICKASON V EDWARDS, (1910) 10 CLR 243, and that was affirmed
by His Honour Mr Justice Dixon in the AUSTRALIAN
WORKERS' UNION V BOWEN, 77 CLR. I would also refer Your Honour to the number of cases in this Court
relating to the question of the appearance of a
possibility of bias or the appearance of the person
making the decision not being in a position to act
fairly. Those cases are, with respect, well known. I have referred to REG V WATSON, EX PARTE ARMSTRONG,
136 CLR 248, and following that, Your Honour, there
C3TS/l/RB 7 15/2/88 Hellenic was LIVESEY V NEW SOUTH WALES BAR ASSOCIATION,
151 CLR 288, and the case of RE JRL EX PARTE CJL,
(1986) 66 ALR 239 and in particular again His HonourMr Justice Mason as he then was at page 244. They
are matters relating to judicial officers and the
judicial obligation to -
HIS HONOUR: You need not dwell on them. MR BOULTBEE: If Your Honour pleases. Your Honour, there being apparent,in my submission, a clear appearance of and
a possibility of there not being a fair hearing because
of the dual role of Mr Barry, it is, in my submission,
an appropriate matter for an order nisi for a writ of
prohibiton to issue in that it is a defect that goes
to the very constitution of the tribunal hearing the
matter and one which is not effecti,;· ,ly orconveniently dealt with by way of tL:: limited procedure
for appeal that is set out in the award from decisions
| TS | of the Board of Review. | |
| Your Honour, there are authorities which establish that it is not necessary to exhaust one's appeal | ||
| remedies where one has a breach of natural justice | ||
| in a matter before a court or an administrative | ||
| ||
| EX PARTE ROYCO, (1974) 1 QB 720, and REG v PADDINGTON | ||
| VALUATION OFFICER, EX PARTE PEACHEY, (1966) 1 QB 380. | ||
| Your Honour, I have neglected to bring those reports | ||
| down with me. |
HIS HONOUR: I am familiar with them, so you need not dwell on them.
MR BOULTBEE: If Your Honour pleases. Would Your Honour wish
me to address Your Honour on the limited nature of
the appeal provision within the award within
clause 42(h) of the award? I take Your Honour to thatclause of the award.
HIS HONOUR: If there is some special construction that has been worked out on that clause or similar clauses you had
better mention it.
MR BOULTBEE: Very well, Your Honour. There have been some cases relating to the appealed from decisions of boards.
First, there is only an appeal if it is provided in
the award itself. The Act does not provide any right
of appeal from a decision and the appeal provision is
limited to whatever is provided by the provision in
the award. It is said by Mr Justice O'Mara in FEDERATED SHIP PAINTERS AND DOCKERS UNION OF AUSTRALIA
V OPERATIVE PAINTERS AND DECORATORS UNION OF AUSTRALIA,
53 CAR 380, that it is now the general practice
provided in awards that there will be an appeal to the
Cormnission but if Your Honour - the exact nature of
the appeal has not been determined.
C3T6/l/RB 8 15/2/88 Hellenic
HIS HONOUR: But it would seem to be at large in paragraph (h). There is nothing restrictive there, is there?
"MR. BOULTBEE: It is restricted to the review of a decision and a decision, Your Honour, is one which in (g)
determines the matter, the matter being the type of
matter referred to in subclause (f)(i) or (ii) and
so the appeal, I think, of necessity, Your Honour,
only arises at the end of the matter. It would appear that without there being any provision that it be a
rehearing, the appeal is simply an appeal on the
evidence that was heard by the Board and if that is
the case, Your Honour, the appeal will not cure in any
way the defect which is apparent in the Board in its
constitution in that if, in this case, Mr Barry were
to continue to sit on the Board for the hearing of the matter, there will be rulings and decisions on
evidence and other matters of which he will be part,
indeed -
HIS HONOUR: Would it not be the case that taking the narrowest view of the word "review" and limiting the right
given by paragraph (h) therefore to something
analogous to judicial review as distinct from appealby way of rehearing the complaint that you make about
the constitution of the Board is an admiral
illustration of the very kind of thing for which
judicial review is appropriate.
"MR. BOULTBEE: Your Honour, the complaint we make about the Board is indeed amatter which is well suited to
judicial review. The use of the word "review" in subclause (h) - there is not a decision on this,
Your Honour, but I would invite Your Honour to consider
that it is not a use of the word "review" in
contradistinction to the word "appeal" and because of
the matters that the court has considered, or the
commission would consider, in appeals from boards of
reference, and those are the matters that I referredYour Honour to in the DALGETY AND COMPANY case which
go beyond matters of judicial review of the type which
is provided by writs of prohibition against officers
| T6 | of the Commonwealth. | |
| Your Honour, there are other decisions relating to the appeal from a board of reference which cause | ||
| it inconvenient and ineffective to use the words used | ||
| by the Court of Appeal by Chief Judge Widgery, Lord | ||
| Chief Justice, in HILLINGDON's case and which would | ||
| render the use of the prerogative writ more beneficial, | ||
| ||
| I will simply refer Your Honour without taking Your Honour to the cases. In the matter of the | ||
| Clothing Trades(Tailoring Section)Award, (1948) | ||
| 62 CAR 475, a matter which is on the list of | ||
| authorities, there is suggestion that the court there, |
C3T7/l/RB 9 15/2/88 Hellenic and the commission in this award, will in effect
construe the appeal provision very strictly and
construe it to the effect that only matters which are
clearly put before it by the provision in the award will
be matters to which the court or the commission
should have reference. At page 479 of that case,
Your Honour -
HIS HONOUR: I think it is sufficient if you just give me the reference.
MR BOULTBEE: If Your Honour pleases. Likewise, Your Honour,
another matter which renders, in my submission, it
inconvenient and ineffective to proceed by way of
appeal,if this be a proper matter for appeal to the
Commission,is that in the SHIP PAINTERS AND DOCKERS
AWARD case, 53 CAR 380 - I have referred Your Honour
to that before - His Honour Mr Justice O'Mara made
it clear that in such cases it would be a prerequisite
for an application for review that there be compliance
with the Board's decision in the meantime and in a
case such as. the present one which involves
reinstatement, Your Honour, that would be a harsh and
inconvenient method of proceeding where, in my
submission, there is a clear defect in the constitutionof the tribunal which is remediable by the appropriate
remedy, namely a writ of prohibition which this Court,
Your Honour - and if Your Honour needs to be taken
further on this point, this Court has exclusive
jurisdiction in relation to officers of the Commonwealthto issue such writs.
HIS HONOUR: More is the pity. MR BOULTBEE: I appreciate that, Your Honour. That is why we are here, Your Honour.
Are there other matters that I might be able to
assist Your Honour with?
HIS HONOUR: No, I think I would like to hear Mr Haylen. MR BOULTBEE: If Your Honour pleases.
HIS HONOUR: Yes, Mr Haylen.
MR HAYLEN: Thank Your Honour. In this matter, the applicant/ prosecutor seeks a stay of proceedings of the Board
in matter No A36 of 1987 and it is that particular
matter which brings our presence here and our desire
to make some submissions to Your Honour.
I want to come shortly to some of the authorities
which, because of travel arrangements, you do not have
a list from us, Your Honour, but I have them here at
the bar table and I can hand them up shortly,which are
of importance,in my submission, in this particular case.
C3T7/l/RB 10 BOULTBEE 15/2/88 Hellenic But before I do so, I would like to take Your Honour
back to clause 42 of the award which is set out in
Mr Smith's affidavit of 11 February in paragraph 3.
Also I will take Your Honour to some observations by
the court as to the function and purpose of boards of
reference which, I suggest, are helpful. You will see that the Board of Reference is established under
clause (a) of clause 42. In (b) its constitution is
set out and as Your Honour has commented, it is
representative of the parties likely to be in conflict;
the Union has a representative and employers have a
| T7 | representative. |
(c) Nominations for membership of the Board
and requests for changes of membership shall
be forwarded to the Industrial Registrar.
And then this provision in (d):
A person appointed to represent either the
Federated Liquor and Allied Industries
Employees' Union of Australia or the Employers
may appoint a substitute to act in his stead
at any time.
Now, that provision appears to be very wide and it
could, in my submission, even envisage that at the
resumption of a particular matter complained of, there
may be another person constituting the tribunal asrepresentative of the interests of the Union.
Then there is (e):
Three members, one of whom shall be the
chairman - - -
HIS HONOUR: Excuse me interrupting you, Mr Haylen, but there is no suggestion on the materials before the Court
of anything other than that Mr Barry proposes to
continue to represent -
MR HAYLEN: I agree with that. I think that is the way it stands at the moment.
HIS HONOUR: And does it not have to be determined on the basis of the materials - I mean, obviously if Mr Barry was
prepared to appoint somebody else then it brings
these proceedings to an end.
MR HAYLEN: Ultimately I am going to submit that there are a
range of convenient alternatives which make a stay
undesirable and on the authority usually adopted by
a court, unnecessary. But I am perhaps developing it slowly but I will come back to that point.
HIS HONOUR: There might have to be some undertaking on which to base refusal of the stay.
C3T8/l/RB 11 15/2/88 Hellenic
MR HAYLEN:
We would have to give consideration to that too, yes, Your Honour. If I could come back to that
point as I develop it later. In (e): Three members, one of whom shall be the
chairman, one a representative of the
Federated Liquor and Allied Industries
Employees' Union of Australia and one a
representative of the respondent employers
shall constitute a quorum.
And (f):
The Board of Reference is empowered to deal
with the following matters:
(i) The settlement of disputes on any
matters arising out of the award.
(ii) Matters specifically assigned to
it by the Cormnission.
Then there is (g):
A decision of the majority of members of the
Board including the chairman present at a
meeting shall determine the matter before the
Board.
Now, I will stop there. It seems to me again that that
is a broad and not a narrow provision. "The matter before the Board" in December and in February was the
procedure to be adopted. The question was what type
of, how long is this case going to take, who are the
witnesses, how long do we need, and how is it to
proceed and an argument took place as to the
appropriateness of one of the members, the Union
member, to act in both capacities as Board reference
member and advocate.
We say that that is a matter that was before the A decision of the Board of Reference may be reviewed and altered by the Cormnission on the application of a party to this award.
Board. That becomes important in (h) because -
Then there is a proviso as to how that is to be done.
Now, in my submission, there is an appeal or a review
open to the Cormnission against the decision of the
Board of Review, that decision being the procedural
manner in which it will deal with this particular
| T8 | application. It is not a review limited to a final |
| decision. Now, my friend, I think, refers to a 1948 case for the proposition that in the past - in that case, at least, a board of reference provision | |
| was construed narrowly. |
C3T9/l/RB 12 15/2/88 Hellenic May I just remind Your Honour of two
provisions of the CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT
as giving, in my submission, some background to a
proper constructions of these provisions.
Section 35 of the CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT
concerns an appeal from a member of the Commission
and there are powers given in subsection (8) to
stay and order and in subsection (9) the Commission
on appeal -
may admit further evidence; and
(b) may direct a member to furnish a report
to the Commission .....
and may ..... confirm, quash or vary the award
or decision under appeal;
(d) make an award or decision dealing with the subject-matter of the award or decision under
appeal;
(e) direct the member whose award or decision
is under appeal, or another member, to take
further action in the proceedings.
Section 35, as this Court has noted in previous cases
arising under the CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT,
is quite broad in its operation as is section 88F
which I think is probably the only other, for the
purposes of this argument, relevant appellate section
under the -
HIS HONOUR: But they both use the word "appeal". Do you suggest - are you drawing an analogy between those
provisions and the breadth of the powers they give
to the Commission and the power to review under
paragraph (h)?
MR HAYLEN: I think I am putting it this way, Your Honour. It is appropriate to construe the meaning of that
clause in the award against the industrial practices demonstrated by the Act. The Act has appeals in section 35 and section 88F which are wide and allow
new evidence, virtually a rehearing of the matter.
That is why it is artificial to construe,in an award
made under that Act, a review power of a Board of
Reference narrowly. One would, in my submission, be entitled to construe it broadly.
HIS HONOUR: If they had used the word "appeal" there would be considerable substance in your submission but I
wonder if the contrasting words do not militate
against that submission.
MR HAYLEN: One of the difficulties, I suppose - the strongest
case is undoubtedly as Your Honour has said, and one
C3T9/2/RB 13 15/2/88 Hellenic of the difficulties is construing awards of people
who are often not skilled in those subtle differences.
In an award - I think I can say from the bar table
his is not a standard clause. Some Board of Referance provisions are more detailed. This seems to be a
fairly shorthand version of a Board of Reference
provision and - - -
HIS HONOUR: There might be good reason for limiting the powers of appeal or review from a Board of Reference. The
role that they play in maintaining industrial peace
within an industry under an award is often the kind
of role where they are convened readily to deal witha minor dispute that needs to be resolved quickly and
as to which any review would be inconvenient and
disruptive of the peace of the industry. In other
words, are there not many situations where the parties
get at odds and they want a decision and the important
thing is the decision and the Board of Reference isthe means whereby they get it and having given it, that
is it.
MR HAYLEN: Your Honour saved me the trouble of going to HEGARTY's case because I think at page 631 in
147 CLR the description Your Honour just gave of the
role of a Board of Reference is almost identical to
what appears there.
HIS HONOUR: I am in good company.
MR HAYLEN: Your Honour is. The role is talked about in terms of being an informal body constituted to deal with
minor industrial problems and to take advantage of
that informality and the speediness of the proceedings
| T9 | to enable matters to be quickly resolved. | I do not |
think it necessarily flows from that, because of the
rather unique place industrial relations have occupied
in Austrian history, let alone legal and industrialhistory, that one can say that the review procedures
that follow, the appeal or however you term it, should
be almost automatically narrowly construed. When the old authorities say that whether or not there is an
appeal is a matter to be dealt with in the Board
of Reference clause itself, once a review ability isfound or procedure is found as is here and nothing
else is said, it does not say it is limited in any way.
There really in that context, in my submission, is
no ground for construing that review process naturally.
Rather there would be good ground for having a full review of the industrial difficulty rather than
artificially keeping one out.
If one follows the line of reasoning that there
is public benefit in a quick and speedy resolution
of industrial disputation, it does not sit well with
that that any review proceedings would be narrow. It
C3Tl0/l/RB 14 15/2/88 Hellenic would rather sit well with that approach that any
review or appeal proceeding would not be narrow but
would allow the whole of the issue, even if argued
somewhat differently, to be aired so that the real
issue would be dealt with rather than to avoid it.
HIS HONOUR: I would like to think that your submission was right, Mr Haylen, if it was to mean that we could
adjourn this application and allow the application
for review, pursuant to paragraph (h), to be brought
immediately to the Commission. And that is the effect of your submission.
MR HAYLEN: That is the effect of my submission, yes, Your Honour.
HIS HONOUR: But will it hold water. When you look at (g), what is a decision? A decision is that which "shall
determine the matter before the Board".
MR HAYLEN: That is right, Your Honour, "the matter before the
Board".
HIS HONOUR: And is that not the matter for which the Board
of Reference has been convened to determine?
MR HAYLEN: See this is not - there are no procedures laid
down in this clause binding upon the parties. The procedure has to be worked out by the parties themselves. The matter before the.Board, on the two times it has convened, is what procedure to adopt.
That is the only decision that has been made, the
decision that is objected to by the applicant/
prosecutor.
HIS HONOUR: But surely the matter before the Board is the
dispute which has given rise to the convening of
the Board.MR HAYLEN: That is "the matter" in terms of the ultimate
dispute to be dealt with but part of that matter is
the procedural steps to be taken in dealing with that dispute.
HIS HONOUR: Then it would be manifestly inconvenient, despite what you have said about the importance of securing
a simple and effective operation of the Board ofReference, to think chat every procedural decision
the Board makes in running can be immediately the
subject of a review by the Commission.
MR HAYLEN: All the more, Your Honour, if every such procedural
step becomes the subject of first instance proceedings
here in this Court.
HIS HONOUR: There are not, thankfully, quite so many cases as give rise to prerogative writs.
C3Tl0/2/RB 15 15/2/88 Hellenic
MR HAYLEN:
But see the power and the discretions residing in the Commission - - -
HIS HONOUR: Yes, the point you make is that there is a'ready access to a resolution of the problem by application
to the Commission.
MR HAYLEN: That is so. That is really - - -
HIS HONOUR: Can you throw any light on the practice to which the chairman referred as being "common practice" whereby
a member of the Board also acts as an advocate. Has
there been any vindication of that practice by the
Commission or otherwise?
(Continued on page 17)
C3Tl0/3/RB 16 15/2/88 Hellenic
MR HAYLEN: It appears to be known but never the subject, so far as I can recall in my reading, any particular
reference in cases, adverse or - - -
HIS HONOUR: How does it work? I take it the member would not,
himself, give evidence? Mr Barry even seemed to be taking that view.
MR HAYLEN: Yes. Can I say the practice is not widely known except to those who participate in the ooards, and a
very small select band of people do that.
HIS HONOUR: Yes. MR HAYLEN: It happens from time to time, I can say, Your Honour, in other jurisdictions where, for instance, in the New
South Wales Industrial Commission where conciliation
committees are formed and they have nominated
representatives from employer and employees but
they will give evidence and will not be excluded and
the commission has heard appeals on that basis fromparticipating in the decision making. But they are
almost never, in my experience and knowledge of the
system, advocates. So, it appears that the giving ofevidence in that system is not frowned upon but the
practice is not to be an advocate. In the federal
jurisdiction it appears to be the other way around
but it does appear to be a well-recognized practice
not hitherto reviewed.
HIS HONOUR: Yes. I am conscious of the caution with which one takes the principles of natural justice and
applies them to a board such as this without some
realistic appreciation of the nature of the board and
the function that it has to perform and, obviously,
it is not to be equated with a formal court of justice.
MR HAYLEN: Yes. HIS HONOUR: But the readiness with which the active participation of a member of a board of reference in
the presentation of submissions and the absence of
authority to either confirm or reject that procedure does seem to lead to a rather unsatisfactory situation
and I wonder whether there is not merit in directing
that the application be made to a Full Court. I am reluctant to take the time of the Court. It is a
very serious matter to take up the time of the Court
with the review of practice in a board of reference
but provided the matter you alluded to earlier in
connection with a stay was satisfactorily resolved,there may be some merit in the interests of justice
and the functioning of the award and by analogy,
the functioning of other awards, if the procedures
obtaining in a board of reference were clarified.
MR HAYLEN: Yes. I thought under the Rules governing prohibition it was also possible for final hearing of prohibition
C3Tll/l/PLC 17 15/2/88 Hellenic
to be dealt with by a single member. I am not sure if this is one of those cases where - - -
HIS HONOUR:
Yes, I do not recall any single Justice taking the responsibility for determining that.
MR HAYLEN: I cannot say I can inform Your Honour otherwise about that.
HIS HONOUR: I might be mistaken but I do not think so. The distinction between granting an order nisi and
referring the application to the Full Court, as I
understand it, is that it marks a degree of caution
on the part of the Justice as to whether the matter
warrants the attention of the Full Court and it leaves
it open for the Full Court to sunnnarily refuse leavewithout the necessity of reserving a decision and
| Tll | preparing formal reasons. |
MR HAYLEN: Yes. HIS HONOUR: I would be just grateful to have your submissions on that course if I were to take it.
MR HAYLEN: Yes. Well, perhaps if I can just take a bit of time to get some instructions on that.
HIS HONOUR: Certainly.
MR HAYLEN: But, of course, one of our great concerns is the very nature of the case before the Board of
Reference; it is a dismissal which took place some
time before 5 December last year and if there is a
stay, of course, that person's right to have a
contest as to the correctness of the decision to
terminate just sits and awaits the ability of the
Court to hear the matter. That concerns us greatly.
HIS HONOUR: Yes, certainly delay in a case such as this is undesirable and there is a problem in allowing the
matter to go further without a stay because if I was
to receive an undertaking from you that the membership
of the Board would be wried, in other words, that Mr Barry would appoint a substitute, as the basis
on which I would decline to order a stay. what happens
when the matter comes to the Full Court? The questionmay then be moot.
MR HAYLEN: Yes. HIS HONOUR: And I see that as·a difficulty. But at any rate I have distracted you from the course of your
submissions but I thought it possibly helpful to me
to share what was in my mind.
MR HAYLEN: Yes. I will shortly ask for a little indulgence so I can speak to my instructing solicitor but perhaps
if I can finish the major thrust of my submission.
C3Tl2/l/PLC 18 15/2/88 Hellenic Can I just refer, Your Honour, very briefly, to to page 484, and this was where there was - - -
HIS HONOUR: This was the OMEGA case?
:MR HAYLEN: Yes, I think that is the other title by which it is commonly known, Your Honour. There there was an
application that prohibition should be granted on the
basis of a denial of natural justice before a single
member of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission
and in circumstances where there was then an appeal to
a Full Bench of that Commission and the matter then
came before a Full Court of this Court, and this isthe judgment of His Honour Mr Justice Mason as he then
was, at the beginning of the first full paragraph about
a quarter of the way down the page. He said this: In any event, what happened before
Marks J cannot constitute a basis for prohibition on the ground that there was a
denial of natural justice. The BLF exercised its right of appeal to the Full Bench. On an
appeal the Full Bench may admit furtherevidence and it may confirm, quash or vary
the award or decision under appeal or make
an award or decision dealing with the
subject matter of the decision under appeal -
those sections that I have taken Your Honour to are
set out.
In TWIST V RANDWICK MUNICIPAL COUNCIL,
this Court held that the existence of a full
statutory right of appeal on facts and law
was indicative of a legislative intention
that the citizen's only right of redress
against the council's failure to give him an
opportunity to be heard before making a
demolition order was by way of appeal. I refer to my judgment in that case. See also
AUSTRALIAN WORKERS' UNION V BOWEN. The present case has some similarities to TWIST. There is here a full appeal on fact and
law under s. 35. Moreover, s. 35(9)(a) enables
the Full Bench to admit further evidence.
Further, by reason of their very nature and
their capacity to create unemployment, to
dislocate industry and to disturb the life
of the community including the essential
services on which the community depends, industrialdisputes call for speedy and final determination,
an object which is best achieved by recognizing
that the remedy of a party complaining that he
has been denied natural justice at first
instance is to exercise his right of appeal under
s. 35 to the exclusion of pursuing relief by way
of prerogative writ.
C3Tl2/2/PLC
Hellenic 19 15/2/88
MR HAYLEN (continuing): And I do not read further there.
The applicability of that approach depends upon the
validity of the construction of the clause in the award
that I contended for earlier.
Could I then take Your Honour very briefly to another MARKS' case, I think, now, only reported,
so far as I am aware, in 34 ALR and I could hand
Your Honour a copy of that - at page 208. This was
a decision of His Honour Mr Justice Mason, again, ashe then was dealing with an application for a stay
in circumstances where the applicant had failed in
an application for an order nisi and then applied
for a stay of proceedings. There is some discussion
at page 211 which I do not take Your Honour to but
just to remind Your Honour that there His Honour
drew the distinction between staying a proceeding
and staying an order. I suppose the only analogous point here might be if one construes a stay order here
as really being a stay of the order directing that theprocedure to be adopted in the Board of Reference
would be the continuation of the Union representative
as both advocate and Board member, but perhaps that
is more than a little removed from the facts of the
present case. But at page 212 - - -
HIS HONOUR: You could apply that to your case, I suppose, in that if the stay were to be construed as staying the order
rejecting the applicant's application to Mr Barry to
disqualify himself - - -
MR HAYLEN: Yes. HIS HONOUR: - - - and the decision e;iven on that application,
the proceedings could go on but he would be unable to
sit, but it is a bit tortuous.
MR.HA.YI.EN: Yes. Well, perhaps if I could take Your Honour to
the top of page 212 where His Honour continues the
discussion on the basis that the applicant suggestedthat the special circumstances which arose were that the
demarcation order that had been refused and was challenged was important to the organization because
the job was likely to finish and the issue become a
dead issue before the Court could deal with it and thebenefit of membership that it would otherwise derive from a favourable order would be lost. At the top of page 212 His Honour said:
I acknowledge that there is some risk
that the Federation will lose the right which
it claims unless a stay is granted. I recognize also that so long as the Commission's orders
remain on foot there is a likelihood that riggers
engaged in work of this kind will consider that
the FIA will gain representative rights in other
C3Tl3/l/PLC 20 15/2/88 Hellenic projects and will consequently join that
union in preference to the Federation, with
consequential loss to the Federation. However, in assessing the detriment which the Federation
may suffer I have to take into account several
factors. They are:- (1) That the grant of a stay of an order in
the exercise of the inherent jurisdiction is
an exceptional course.
(2) That the Federation failed to obtain an
order nisi for prohibition.
(3) That the right claimed by the Federation is
but a right to represent six to eight employees of EPT only and to represent them in connection
with their employment at this site when that
employment will, in all probability endure for
no more than 16 weeks.
(4) That the prospects of the Federation
succeeding in obtaining a writ of prohibition
are not, in my opinion, strong.
(5) That in the ordinary course of events, the
Federation's application for prohibition will
be heard by the Full Court at the beginning of
March and that there are reasonable grounds for
thinking that the court could give its decision promptly. If my expectation in this respect is
misplaced the Full Court could, if so advised,
then grant a stay.
| T13 | Your Honour, similar observations, I think, were made by His Honour the previous Chief Justice in |
| RE LUDEKE EX PARTE THE BUILDERS LABOURERS FEDERATION | |
| referred to, I think, in the practice books as | |
| "Unreported decision of 9 October 1985" where His Honour | |
| said that - - - |
HIS HONOUR: A decision of who, Mr Haylen? MR HAYLEN: The then Chief Justice Mr Justice Gibbs. HIS HONOUR: Sir Harry Gibbs. MR HAYLEN: Yes.- the likelihood of success was an issue;
whether a party suffers a detriment; whether a stay
be granted or not, and where does the public interest
lie. On the approaches in both those cases we say that the dismissal in early December 1987 in
circumstances where there are proceedings on 22 December
and 10 February and the further delay which will follow
if a stay is granted really raises an issue of unfairness
to a person, especially in this type of employment.
The likelihood of success, we say, on the basis
of MARKS' case must be in doubt and the public interest,
we would submit, lies here against the applicant/prosecutor
because of the role of reference boards, as I have already
referred to and as summarized in HEGARTY' s case and, Your Honour,
C3Tl4/l/PLC 15/2/88 Hellenic 21 what I would submit as being perhaps an unwarranted
encouragement for these types of proceedings to be
cormnenced here in this Court at first instance
rather than pursuing of available appeal rights and
on that basis the public interest aspect would be
against the prosecutor.
If I could just have a moment, Your Honour,
I might see if I can obtain some instructions on the
other matters that Your Honour has raised.
HIS HONOUR: Although, Mr Haylen, before you do, I have
a real problem in inviting you even to consider an
undertaking because the issue - we might simply be
putting the parties to the expense of preparing fora case in the High Court before the Full Court and by the time it is called on the action is moot and
nothing could justify the Court in proceeding to deal
with it, and it seems to me that is a problem.
MR HAYLEN: Your Honour, that may arise in any event, can I say, because this was an issue raised at a board of reference. It would seem to me there would be no - this is perhaps telling against me to a certain extent
on the stay but it seems to me also that there would
be no inhibition on the Union raising, under section 25,
a notification of dispute as to the employment of
the person in question and having that dispute dealtwith on the recent RANGER case by the Conciliation
and Arbitration - - -
HIS HONOUR: By the Cormnission? MR HAYLEN: Yes, by the Cormnission. That would mean that
there really is no live issue remaining before the
Board of Reference in any event. Perhaps it is a course that goes both ways. But that is a possibility that
allows the personal issue of the member concerned to
be ventilated but may leave the issue of the
procedure at large.
HIS HONOUR: What is the nature of the issues before the Board of Reference? It is, firstly, an adjudication
or a decision as to the facts surrounding the conduct
of the worker that led to his dismissal?
MR HAYLEN: Well, Your Honour, as I understand it, it is
the allegation of not properly accounting for money
and a denial of the facts.
HIS HONOUR: Yes. That has to be gone into, arld in the light
of the decision the Board is empowered to order
reinstatement, is it?
MR HAYLEN: Yes. I think that is all I can put, really, for my client, Your Honour.
HIS HONOUR: Thank you very much, Mr Haylen. Yes, Mr Boultbee,
why should you have a stay in any event?
C3Tl4/2/PLC 22 15/2/88 Hellenic
MR BOULTBEE: Well, Your Honour, an appropriately worded stay
we should have to prevent the Board, as presently
constituted, from continuing to hear the matter or to
prevent a board constituted with the same defect
from hearing the matter. It may be that the result of
an order nisi being made might be to induce
Mr Barry to have a substitute sit on the Board. Now, Your Honour, should that happen and should that substitute also purport to represent the Union before the Board or represent the employee before the Board,
then we are no further advanced. So, what is necessary to prevent a hearing proceeding which would have the
same defect as the current hearing is a stay which,
by its terms, would prevent such a constituted board
hearing the matter.
Your Honour, in practical terms it may well be
that the making of an order nisi will have the effect of remedying the defect that is presently seen by the prosecutor, at least in the proceedings, and the matter
may end up being resolved by consent if an order nisi
is granted. But until either that happens or the determination of the question at issue, that is, the
question of whether an advocate can also sit on the
Board, it is my submission that in order to protect
the interests of the prosecutor it is necessary for a
stay to go.
HIS HONOUR: What do you say to the point Mr Haylen has made about the right of an innnediate review by the
Connnission?
MR BOULTBEE: Under the provisions - - -? HIS HONOUR: Under clause 42? MR BOULTBEE: Your Honour, I would submit that on a reading of the other subclauses of clause 42 the correct
reading with respect of that clause is that decisionsare only decisions on matters. That is apparent from
(g) where:
A decision of the majority of members ..... shall determine the matter before the Board.
And (f) sets out the matters which are before the
Board and in (i):
A copy of each decision of the Board of
Reference shall be supplied to all parties
concerned.
It suggests throughout that a decision is a decision
that would not, in a sense, be interlocutory in nature,
a decision finally determining the matter, and it is
my submission that that is the reading of subclause'(h)
which should be undertaken. And the authorities, limited
C3Tl5/l/PLC 23 15/2/88 Hellenic
as they are on the question of appeals or reviews
by the Cotmnission or the Court, as it used to be, from
boards of reference indicate that it is taken by those
who looked at the question to date in those
Cotmnonwealth Arbitration Report decisions to which I have referred Your Honour to be a final determination
of the matter before the Board.
HIS HONOUR: Yes. What do you understand by the use of the term "advocate"? I mean, it would not be sufficient
to attract the rules of natural justice merely to say
that a member of the Board has, in the course of hisacting as a member of a board of reference, a role
which at times can be that of advocacy, but the
complaint really must go further, must it not, and
be that the member actively involves himself in the
presentation of the case for one of the parties?
MR BOULTBEE: Yes, Your Honour. HIS HONOUR: Is that the point of which you would say
that really goes beyond the line however much one may excuse the combination of roles in a member
of a board of reference when he purports to go to
that further exercise of function?
| Tl5 | MR BOULTBEE: | I would say that, Your Honour, yes. | And that |
is consistent with the decision in THE AUSTRALIAN WORKERS'
UNION V BOWEN, (l948) 77 CLR, where His Honour
Mr Justice Dixon was looking at a similar question of
a prosecutor and a judge.- it was a domestic tribunal there, Your Honour, the executive council of a union, but His Honour, with respect, delivered a decision
which ran along the lines that Your Honour is thinkingnow, that it is at the stage where the advocate becomes actively involved in presenting the case that it becomes a matter where it is not appropriate, even in a domestic tribunal, for the advocate to be involved as part of the tribunal hearing the matter. Pages 630 and 631, Your Honour, the last paragraph on that page -
and again, Your Honour, I repeat that it is a matter
where it was a domestic tribunal and His Honour makes the point that in domestic tribunals it is quite often the case and must be that members of a cotmnittee are
also involved to an extent in the matter that comesbefore the cotmnittee. But at page 631, at about point 4, he says, in relation to the secretary of the union, and makes a distinction in relation to him
from other members of the executive council of theunion which had had some involvement in the matter: at the hearing of the charges he assumed
the functions of a prosecutor and so to
speak presented the case in support of the
charges to the Council. It is true that the
rules make him a member of the Council as
general secretary and require the general
secretary's attendance. But they do not make his presence indispensable and do not
C3Tl6/l/PLC 24 15/2/88 Hellenic necessitate his participation in the decision
of questions in which his interest or concern
makes it improper.
I think His Honour goes close to finding that there
may have been even actual bias in that but the
appearance of bias or the appearance of the
inability to have the rules of natural justiceapply is sufficient, Your Honour. And, again, it is
in this particular matter before the Board of Reference
to which the prosecutor would say the rules of
natural justice should apply to prevent the same
person being an advocate and a member of the Board.
In other matters which are more in the conciliation function, I suppose, of the Board dealing with
alterations in conditions and so on, it would seem
not to be inappropriate for a member of the Board also
to be putting the point of view of the party on whosebehalf he has been appointed to the Board. But where specific rights of individuals and of the
prosecutor here are concerned, it becomes a matter
where there is a necessity to act judicially and that
is when the rules, in my submission, should come
into play.
HIS HONOUR: Yes. Would you wish to say anything to a proposed order that I direct that you make the
application to a Full Court and that I decline to
grant a stay? The arguments, as I see it, in support
of rufusing a stay, the primary one, is that thesubject-matter of the proceedings is not likely to
be destroyed. If the fribunal is allowed to proceed,
it meets the very proper considerations towhich
Mr Haylen has referred of the interests of justiceof the particular worker. If the application to the
Full Court succeeds and prohibition issues then,
of course, any decision that will have been made
or if the Board has already mace a decision by then,will be set at nought but, on the other hand, if the
Board is reconstituted there may be no occasion
for you to continue with the application, but I
should give you an opportunity to be heard before I
| Tl6 | pursue that. |
MR BOULTBEE: Yes. Your Honour, that course has some attraction for the reasons that Your Honour has mentioned but,
with respect, the same practical considerations can
apply if there is an order nisi granted - and the order
nisi that is sought, Your Honour, is in a particular
form that goes to the hearing of the matter by the Board as presently constituted - and, Your Honour,
it woul~ allow, in my submission, the hearing
to continue before a board differently constituted.
HIS HONOUR:
You mean, with a member of the Board continuing to act as an advocate?
C3Tl7/l/PLC 25 15/2/88 Hellenic
MR BOULTBEE: I am sorry, Your Honour? HIS HONOUR: Do you mean it might continue with a different member of the Board representing the Union and that
member might continue to do as Mr Barry had proposedto do, namely, act as an advocate and take an active
part in the presentation of the case?
MR BOULTBEE: That would not solve the problem, Your Honour.
HIS HONOUR: I know, but is that the horrendous possibility
to which you are referring?
MR BOULTBEE: That remains a possibility, Your Honour. That
is one of the difficulties that still prevails. The
other difficulty, I suppose, is Mr Barry's involvement
on the Board at all. It is not a solution - I do not
think it comes up under either of the proposals -
under the proposal that Your Honour puts, nor would it
be permissible if the order nisi is granted.
If Mr Barry were simply to replace himself as an advocate
I am not sure that that would solve the problem that
has already arisen because of his earlier involvement
but that is not before Your Honour, really.
HIS HONOUR: It would take a lot of the sting out of your anxiety given that the hearing has not yet connnenced.
MR BOULTBEE: Indeed, Your Honour, but the prosecutor is in a situation where, as is shown from the transcript,
it invited, at the beginning, for Mr Barry to appoint
some other member to be a representative of the Union
on the Board from the beginning and for the proceedings
then to continue. That invitation was declined and
that is why we are here, with respect.
HIS HONOUR: But nothing has transpired in the hearing since that invitation was declined?
MR BOULTBEE: Except, Your Honour, that a ruling was made as
to legal represerttation by the -
HIS HONOUR: Well, I suppose if an advocate were appointed, then the Board would remain as presently constituted
and if you renewed the application you would meet with
the same response but you cannot draw a great deal fromthat I would not have thought.
MR BOULTBEE: No, Your Honour. The complaint of the prosecutor is the sitting of Mr Barry on the Board whilst he is an
advocate. The order nisi that is sought would prevent theBoard so constituted from hearing the matter and that with an appropriately worded stay and; Your Honour, it
would allow for reconstitution of the Board and for the
hearing to go ahead in the interests of the parties
in the way that has been mentioned. But, Your Honour,
C3Tl7/2/PLC 26 15/2/88 Hellenic without a stay, at least to that effect, there is the
possibility that the same problem might result.
HIS HONOUR: I think the refinements are manifold that one could read into the situation but I have heard -
anything else you would like to say?
MR BOULTBEE: No, Your Honour.
HIS HONOUR: Thank you. Did you wish to say anything arising
out of that last discussion with Mr Boultbee?
MR HAYLEN: No, nothing further, thank you, Your Honour.
(Continued on page 28)
C3T17/3/PLC 27 15/2/88 Hellenic
HIS HONOUR: I think that the appropriate order is for me to direct that the application be made to a Full
Court. I decline to order a stay for the reasons that I shortly indicated a few moments ago.
Firstly, the inherent power of the Court to grant
a stay in a matter when it is at the stage that
the present matter is at is a power which must be
exercised with extreme caution. Secondly, it
will ordinarily be granted only where there is a
likely destruction of the subject-matter if a stay
were not granted. The present case does not fall
within that category. As I have indicated toMr Boultbee, if the application is made and were
to succeed in the Full Court granting prohibition,
then any proceedings of the Board as presentlyconstituted would require to be viewed in the
light of that writ of prohibition. If, on the
other hand, the constitution of the Board is varied,
then it may well be that the applicant has
achieved its object and that there is no further
cause for complaint.
So, the order of the Court is that the applicant
make his application to a Full Court and that there
be no order for a stay. Is there anything else
requiring to be considered?
MR BOULTBEE: Nothing, thank you, Your Honour.
MR HAYLEN: No, Your Honour. HIS HONOUR: That concludes the matter.
AT 3.43 PM THE MATTER WAS ADJOURNED SINE DIE
C3Tl8/l/PLC 28 15/2/88 Hellenic
Key Legal Topics
Areas of Law
-
Administrative Law
-
Civil Procedure
Legal Concepts
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Judicial Review
-
Natural Justice
-
Procedural Fairness
-
Jurisdiction
-
Standing
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