Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW) v Industrial Relations Commission of NSW in Court Session & Anor

(2004) 60 NSWLR 602; [2004] NSWCA 183

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Administrative Law
2. › Jurisdictional error
3. › Jurisdictional fact
4. › Whether fact of guilt a jurisdictional fact conditioning jurisdiction of court to hear contempt proceedings
5. › Strong interpretative presumption against statute making court's jurisdiction dependent on jurisdictional fact
6. › Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), ss 153(2), 164(2), 180
1. Industrial Law
2. › Industrial Relations Commission
3. › Contempt of Commission
4. › Jurisdiction to hear and determine contempt proceedings
5. › Whether Commission had jurisdiction
6. › Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW), ss 164(2), 180
1. Contempt of Court
2. › Contempt of industrial tribunal
3. › Conduct tending to interfere with administration of justice
4. › Employer directing employees to attend meetings to answer allegations forming subject matter of pending proceedings
5. › Whether conduct capable of constituting contempt

Quick Take

The fact of guilt is not a jurisdictional fact conditioning a court's or tribunal's jurisdiction to hear and determine contempt proceedings. The relevant jurisdictional fact is the court's own finding of guilt, not the objective existence of guilt. There is a strong interpretative presumption against a statute making a court's jurisdiction dependent upon a jurisdictional fact, and this presumption applies with particular force where the statute confers jurisdiction on a court to determine criminal guilt.