› Forums › From the Front Page › Smoke drift battle exposes NCAT’s farcical flaws › Current Page
And while I have your attention – the point of my story wasn’t whether or not smoke drift was harmful, it was that strata law says it is (it’s a nuisance) and the Tribunal did not doubt that the plaintiffs were subject to it.
However, the NCAT Appeals Panel – clearly in a fever dream that they were the US Supreme Court – decided to question whether or not it was really a problem, apparently on the grounds that the victims hadn’t provided evidence of the harmful effects of cigarette smoke (which was not required in any case).
This is the kind of thing that (rightly) undermines our faith in the whole mediation and tribunal system which lurches from the ineffectual to the farcical, with strata residents stuck in the middle just seeking a simple answer. The fact that the plaintiffs eventually won doesn’t mitigate against the huge waste of time, money and emotional energy that this exposed.