Court With Appeal?

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday November 22, 2008

Jimmy Thomson

There are pros and cons in a new legal option.

When it comes to irreconcilable differences, strata battles can make the irresistible force meeting the immovable object look like an episode of Dancing With The Stars.

But now the State Government has offered what seems to be a short cut for people trapped in a never-ending cycle of adjudications and appeals at the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal but fear taking their case to the Supreme Court.

Since September, you've had to take your appeals against tribunal adjudications to a District Court to appeal on a point of law - rather than the mere fact you didn't like the result - and that would have to be a good thing, wouldn't it?

Yes and no, according to leading strata lawyer Francesco Andreone. Certainly the District Court is a lot less daunting than the Supreme Court, he says, but it is not that much cheaper for the plaintiffs and defendants to run a case there.

However, you can apply to have some of your costs paid by your opponent, if you win at the District Court - an option that isn't available in the CTTT process.

In many ways, according to Mr Andreone, a big benefit of this is for the Government, which is likely to make savings of time and money by avoiding costly Supreme Court cases.

A downside is the District Court tends not to publish its findings - something the Supreme Court does and which lawyers and strata managers use as a guide when confronting similar problems.

From this column's point of view, a District Court appeal might get a quicker resolution when both parties will accept the first proper legal result. But for those immovable objects and irresistible forces it's just another expensive step in a process that's going to end up in the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal anyway. Strata disputes can be an expensive business once you've gone past the Fair Trading mediation stage, even just to mount a case for an initial "paper" adjudication at the CTTT.

It's a shame too many strata owners feel they can't trust or accept tribunal decisions. Maybe making it more authoritative and awarding reasonable costs against the "losers" would make strata neighbours think twice before they take each other on.

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© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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