Blacktown Workers' Club Ltd v O'Shannessy

[2011] NSWCA 265

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › Purposive construction
3. › Words not to be construed by dictionary definitions in isolation
4. › Meaning to be determined by statutory context and purpose
5. › Smoke-Free Environment Act 2000 (NSW)
6. › Smoke-Free Environment Regulation 2007 (NSW), cl 6
1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › Construction of defined terms
3. › Use of 'includes' in statutory definitions
4. › Whether definition exhaustive or expansive
5. › Smoke-Free Environment Regulation 2007 (NSW), cl 6(7)
1. Environment
2. › Smoke-free areas
3. › Enclosed public places
4. › Whether mesh security screens constitute 'walls'
5. › Whether areas covered by mesh screens are 'gaps in walls'
6. › Whether gaps 'open directly to the outside'
7. › Smoke-Free Environment Act 2000 (NSW), ss 4, 6, 8
8. › Smoke-Free Environment Regulation 2007 (NSW), cl 6
1. Appeal
2. › Appeal on question of law alone
3. › Scope of appellate jurisdiction
4. › Whether court may decide issue not raised by either party
5. › Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW), s 56

Quick Take

A structure or device that does not discernibly impede lateral airflow is not a 'wall' for the purposes of the Smoke-Free Environment Regulation 2007 (NSW), cl 6(7). The complete absence of a wall on one side of a space is not a 'gap in a wall' under cl 6(4)(a); that phrase applies only where a wall is partly present but partly absent. The question whether cl 6 of the Regulation is exhaustive of the definition of 'enclosed' in s 4 of the Act, or merely supplementary to it, remains unresolved.