Rowell v Clark & Anor

In the Supreme Court of Western Australia, Warwick Harold Mitford Rowell sought leave to appeal against a decision of the State Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) in relation to the construction of by-laws of a strata company known as "The Owners of Rosneath Farm – Strata Plan 35452". The Tribunal had determined that the strata company was not empowered to levy Richard Melville Clark in relation to Lot 25. The appeal was brought by Mr Rowell, who contended that the Tribunal's decision was flawed due to procedural unfairness and an erroneous interpretation of the by-law. The primary legal issues were whether Mr Rowell had standing to appeal, whether the appeal was the appropriate proceeding, whether the Tribunal had erred in law, and whether the result would have been the same in any event.

The court held that Mr Rowell had standing to appeal as he was a party to the proceedings before the Tribunal. The appeal was deemed an appropriate proceeding as it allowed for the raising of natural justice issues. The court found that the Tribunal had indeed erred in law by not affording procedural fairness to interested parties, as none were informed of the submissions made by others. Furthermore, the court found that the result would likely have been different if procedural fairness had been observed, as the Tribunal might have taken into account evidence that was not presented due to the lack of communication between the parties. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the Tribunal's decision was set aside, and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal for reconsideration by a differently constituted panel.

The final orders included granting leave to appeal, allowing the appeal, setting aside the Tribunal's decision, remitting the matter to the Tribunal for reconsideration, directing that the reconsideration should not be conducted by Mr T J Carey, ordering the first respondent to pay the appellant's costs of the application and appeal, and granting an indemnity certificate for the first respondent's costs of the appeal if an application was made within seven days.