Thompson v Hall
[2016] QCAT 337
•30 August 2016
| CITATION: | Thompson v Hall [2016] QCAT 337 |
| PARTIES: | Emma Thompson (Applicant) |
| v | |
| Morgan Hall (Respondent) |
| APPLICATION NUMBER: | MCDO1502-16 |
| MATTER TYPE: | Other minor civil dispute matters |
| HEARING DATE: | On the papers |
| HEARD AT: | Brisbane |
| DECISION OF: | Adjudicator Bertelsen |
| DELIVERED ON: | 30 August 2016 |
| DELIVERED AT: | Brisbane |
| ORDERS MADE: | 1. The original application filed 20 July 2016 is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. |
| CATCHWORDS: | Claim for possession of chattel – not a debt – possible action in possession or conversion – form of action not within QCAT’s jurisdiction Ziegeler t/as Ziegco Pty Ltd v Recochem Incorporated [2010] QCATA 78 |
APPEARANCES:
This matter was heard and determined on the papers pursuant to s 32 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld) (QCAT Act).
REASONS FOR DECISION
This application is about the true ownership of a chattel (the boat). It is not a debt, certainly not in the narrow vein/definition as stated in the QCAT Act.
A debt in the Tribunal’s Minor Civil Dispute jurisdiction is a sum that can be calculated by reference to a schedule, yardstick or matrix (and that is not the case here) or as stated in Ziegeler t/as Ziegco Pty Ltd v Recochem Incorporated[1] is one where the sum is determined and, in effect, beyond dispute as to how it is calculated. If the sum depends on assessment by the Court or Tribunal it is not liquidated. Rather, the applicant’s asserted cause of action appears to be in respect of unlawful possession of her property or an action for conversion i.e. wrongful appropriation to the respondent’s own use.
[1][2010] QCATA 78.
There is no Minor Civil Dispute Tribunal jurisdiction to hear a claim of this nature. In these circumstances it is not necessary to address the request for decision by default, or the response or the application to strike out, all filed 24 August 2016.
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