A court's refusal to permit a self-represented litigant to give oral evidence due to non-compliance with pre-hearing directions to file affidavits may be a proper exercise of discretion and does not necessarily constitute a denial of procedural fairness amounting to jurisdictional error. An applicant claiming procedural unfairness from such a ruling must demonstrate practical prejudice by identifying the relevant and admissible evidence that would have been given. The privative clause in s 176 of the District Court Act 1973 (NSW) does not preclude judicial review for jurisdictional error.
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