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Under section 71 of the NCAT Act (Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013) knowingly giving false or misleading information to the Tribunal carries is a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment. Quote:
71 False or misleading statements
A person must not, in any proceedings or application to the Tribunal, provide any information, or make any statement, to the Tribunal knowing that the information or statement is false or misleading in a material respect.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both.
I have irrefutable documentary proof that a solicitor did that on at least 5 occasions in relation to action that I took in the Tribunal against our owners corporation in February 2015.
In July 2015 I referred the matter to the Legal Services Ombudsman who in turn referred it to the Law Society of NSW. They told me that they do not have the power to take action in relation to breaches of s.71. They said all they can investigate is breaches of Solicitor Conduct Rules, which they are supposedly still doing 9 months later.
I referred the matter to NCAT last July. They did not reply. I referred it to them again later in July and got no reply. I referred it to them in August and got no reply. I referred it to them recently. They finally replied to say I have to seek my own legal advice.
I did that and was told that it is up to NCAT to prosecute. What do you know!
No prizes for guessing which occupation NCAT officers started out in.
I have referred the matter to the NSW ombudsman but have received no reply.
It is now more than 12 months since the initial false information was given by the solicitor and hence it is beyond the statute of limitations that applies.
So it would seem that solicitors can knowingly lie to NCAT in written submissions and there is no penalty.
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Hello pmo
I have been watching your question drop down the forum list without reply and today it has ‘dropped right off’. In my opinion, in the dealings I’ve had with the CTTT/NCAT a solicitor/EC member has knowingly made false and misleading statements and in a subsequent Submission, under instructions from the respondents, another solicitor has basically done the same thing but most probably not knowingly in the latter case.
You might be interested in a document which has been submitted to a Parliamentary Hearing Committee in which the following question was asked on page 59 of a 62 page document:
“…have made false and misleading statements to the NCAT, discrediting the Applicant. Under Section 71 of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 this is not permitted. Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months, or both. And under Section 73 of the same Act, this is classified as Contempt of Tribunal. Can the Members of the Parliamentary Hearing Committee give one example of where these Sections of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act have been successfully implemented…or has there never been an example of a SMA providing false and misleading statements?”
A link for the document is here.
I wonder if someone can now help with a response?
I’m not sure what kind of response you or PMO think we can make. Neither of your posts were questions – just statements of the facts in appalling situations. And that’s fine but please don’t berate us for not coming up with a solution when any other response would be inadequate.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Jimmy T
Absolutely no criticism meant nor am I trying to berate anyone. I have a personal interest in pmo’s original post and was hoping someone else might have had experience of this and if in turn anyone knows of Section 71 of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act ever being applied or enforced? I was hoping to keep to topic current and in sight in the hope that someone has some news on this matter.
In the past I’ve mentioned to all sorts of people that there is legislation aplenty, certainly in NSW, but I personally have failed on just about every occasion to activate any of it. I have had the NCAT issue Orders on one thing only, after being refused for more than 12 months just to make application to the Tribunal, and when I was finally given the OK to apply for Orders, it took three Submissions to finally get the Orders. The NCAT adjudicator even questioned why I was applying, saying that the legislation is absolutely clear. With someone now putting me on notice that he’s going to sue me, having those Orders is pretty critical to what will be my defence, should the mattr proceed.
The NCAT is suppose to be there for people who haven’t got bucket loads of money to spend on legal fees but on all occasions I’ve felt humiliated by the Tribunal’s responses to my applications.
I have asked myself often if I am totally, completely, absolutely, shockingly incompetent or, if not, what exaclty is goin on out there with our legislators and tribunals.
Please, the last thing I want to appear is critical of the flat chat forum.
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