dnighttime:
In response to your question of December 5 re appeals to the Tribunal from a decision by an Adjudicator: I have recently been through this process and would make a couple of points that may assist you.
In constructing your appeal you will have first of all to set out the grounds for your appeal. This is not as simple as it sounds; it is not sufficient to say that you don’t agree with the Adjudicator’s decision. You have to credibly submit where you think he erred, and why your case should be re-opened.
I have to warn you that you have to be very careful here, because much will depend on who you get as a Tribunal Member to hear your appeal. There are two schools of thought in the Tribunal: one contends that there are only limited avenues for appeal, the other argues that it is permissible to introduce new material. There are decisions of the Tribunal which support both sides, and both quote and interpret a couple of Supreme Court decisions differently.
In my case, I was fortunate to get a Senior Member who believed in the right to open up the whole matter, and ordered that my appeal be heard de novo, that is from the beginning, all over again with no restriction on the review of the Adjudicator’s decisions, reasons or comments. At the final hearing I again won a sympathetic Senior Member who clearly stated where she stood in the argument (among Tribunal members).
So, my conclusion from this is to treat with some scepticism the advice from your friend that you have a good case and should be able to run it yourself. It’s a toss of the coin who you get in the Tribunal, and some members can be absolute sticklers on the law. Whatever you’ve been told, it’s not a place for amateurs, unless it’s not critical and doesn’t matter, so you can have the fun of the experience. This is not your situation, so I would strongly advise engaging a competent strata solicitor to prepare your appeal documents and explain them to you. If you want to save money and take a risk, by all means appear yourself, but be prepared to be asked questions to which you don’t know the answers. (Do you understand all about Directions Hearings, for example?)
Hope this helps.