› Set aside final order — s 43A Restraining Orders Act 1997 (WA)
Restraining orders
› Family violence restraining order
› Reasonable cause for non-attendance at final order hearing
Practice and procedure
› Procedural fairness
› Self-represented litigant — latitude and limits
Practice and procedure
› Appeals
› Appeal by way of rehearing — correction of error
Quick Take
1Under s 43A(3)(b)(i) of the Restraining Orders Act 1997 (WA), a medical letter obtained 12 days after the missed hearing, without a medical certificate certifying unfitness to attend on the hearing date, and without any contemporaneous notification to the court, was on the facts insufficient to satisfy the court that the applicant 'may have had a reasonable cause not to attend' the final order hearing.
2A magistrate's duty to afford latitude to a self-represented litigant does not extend to advising the litigant on how to exercise their rights or to inviting further evidence where the litigant has been given a reasonable opportunity to present their case; the balance must preserve procedural fairness to the other party.
3A factual misstatement by the magistrate (referring to a shuttle conference that did not occur) does not constitute a material error of fact where it did not affect the reasoning or outcome of the decision.
