Speakers
- Judge Andrew Palmer, County Court, Victoria
- The Hon. Geoffrey Nettle, Former Justice of the High Court of Australia
- Trish McConnell, Chair, Private Security Personnel Licencing Authority, New Zealand
Abstract
This interactive session will examine the practical implications of the legislative mandate applying in most if not all tribunals to the effect that they are not bound by the rules of evidence. In particular, does the fact that tribunals are generally obliged to comply with the rules of natural justice require at least some level of adherence to the principles underpinning the rules of evidence? And, if so, how should tribunals approach how and to what extent to apply those rules on questions such as relevance, sworn evidence, second hand hearsay, expert evidence and inferences from failure to call witnesses?
Judge Andrew Palmer (an author of Uniform Evidence and acknowledged expert in the field) will open the session with a presentation on these questions. This will be followed by comments and observations from former High Court Judge the Honourable Geoffrey Nettle AC. Finally Trish McConnell will offer an experienced tribunal member’s perspective – is it realistic to expect members operating in high volume jurisdictions involving mostly self-represented parties to adhere to the approach advocated by the other speakers?