Back to PART 1
the Original Cock-up
QCAT's Human Right Division has jurisdiction to hear matters relevant to the Human Rights Act (QLD). Section 31 of that Act, mandates for a Fair Hearing in Civil Procedures:
Section 31(1) "A person charged with a criminal offence or a party to a civil proceeding has the right to have the charge or proceeding decided by a competent, independent and impartial court or tribunal after a fair and public hearing".
By reason of QCAT's administration of Civil Procedures in the Hearings and Appeals and other administrative matters, there are 6 complaints about the Adjudicator Marshall hearing, and the 11 complaints about the Senior Member Fitzpatrick Appeal hearing (as is set out above). By failing to ensure that the human rights of the Applicant tenants were protected within those hearing procedures, QCAT administration appears to have attracted upon itself, the provisions of subsection 58(1) of the Act.
Furthermore, the Common Law duty of Procedural Fairness is clearly missing from many these complaints.
If QCAT Administration would respond the Complaints, perhaps the behaviour could be justified. However the administration refuses to respond and instead sends out its usual scripted response.
QCAT Administration likes to provide the following scripted response to a complaint:
"As a tribunal, QCAT is required to act independently and is not subject to direction or control by any person or entity. In line with this, the conduct of any matter before QCAT is entirely a matter for the presiding Tribunal Member or Adjudicator, including what evidence is considered and relied upon to make their decision and how those proceedings will be heard, whether in person or on the papers".
The presiding Members and Adjudicators are NOT A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES, which is what QCAT Administration appears to be saying in its scripted response, which the writer further complains that the scripted response is misleading.
Quite clearly the procedures in the two matters complained about (QCAT Appeal APL305-23 and QCAT Q1363-23), can be described as scandalous, by not abided by the requirements of subsection 31(1) of the Human Rights Act or the Common Law duty of Procedural Fairness, when it is the responsibility of QCAT Administration to ensure that hearings are conducted according to those requirements.
It is a fact, that Adjudicators, Members and Senior Members are not at liberty to choose to not abide by these requirements, despite the scripted response that appears to falsely imply that they can, and when in reality they all have a Duty of Care to exercise a reasonable standard of care in their judicial decisions.
The administrative matters of QCAT (e.g, "giving directions about the practices and procedures of the Tribunal"), made by the QCAT President are set out HERE. The QCAT Administration, has not only failed the Applicant tenants TWICE, it appears to fail at other times, by the vast number of complaints that are made about QCAT.
It is somewhat ironic, that QCAT appears to have contravened the very Act, that it is responsible for enforcing. However notwithstanding the irony, a complaint to the Human Rights Commission about QCAT Administration disregarding subsection 31(1) of the Act, is being considered, if there is no reasonable response from QCAT Administration. It is not only in this publication that complains of turning a blind eye to subsection 31(1), there are many others that complain about having their evidence ignored together with matters of fabricated evidence by Property Managers, which if true causes Procedural Unfairness which can lead to Injustice.
QCAT Administration will no doubt disagree with the above and try to deflect the criticism, however whether the above is right or wrong, the position is: SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE
Facts within these complaints to the QCAT Administration, have caused the tenants to believe that they have had their Human Rights breached and suffer substantial added grief and aggravation to that already suffered by the Marshall Decision, which in all could also be described as Elder Abuse. The shock of the Appeal being dismissed, would normally have been unbelievable to the Applicant. However the Applicant has in fact experienced first hand the disgraceful fiasco of injustice set out herein, and the grief and aggravation experienced, is extended up until today 10 March 2025.
Furthermore, the Applicant tenant has a current Cause of Action against the First Respondents Saurav Kataria and Ashleigh Kataria. The behaviour of QCAT Administration complained about herein, and at QCAT Q1363-23, has wrongly caused that Cause of Action to be jeopardised in many ways.
A THREAT has been made from the Assistant Director-General and Principle Registrar as follows:
"If the websites and content are not removed, this matter will be referred to Crown Law for advice on the commencement of appropriate contempt proceedings by the Department of Justice";
where I have been accused of; "Scandalising the Tribunal".
The THREAT is analogues to a disgraceful SLAPP Suite. More about a SLAPP from the Human Rights Law Centre, O’Brien Criminal & Civil Solicitors and Caxton Legal.
It is noted that in many jurisdictions including the UK, "Scandalising the Judiciary" was abolished in 2013, as a form of contempt of court under the common law of England and Wales, in recognition of it being an ancient relic of the past.
Having received no direct response to the 17 Complaints, it would appear that QCAT Administration would rather shoot the complainant, instead of answering the Complaints, and removing the discretion of Members and Adjudicators to not apply correct procedures, as is set out above and at QCAT Q1363-23.
A judge's "Duty of Care" (i.e, in this case the SMF, the Adjudicator and indeed the QCAT Administration under the control of the QCAT President (a Supreme Court Judge)), refers to their legal obligation to exercise a reasonable standard of care in their judicial decisions, meaning they must act with fairness, impartiality, and thoroughness when considering cases, avoiding any actions that could foreseeably harm the parties involved, and upholding the integrity of the legal system; essentially, they must make decisions based on the law and evidence presented, not personal bias or prejudice... SEE MORE
A lack of Duty of Care to the Applicant tenants in this QCAT fiasco resulted in... An absolute Cock-up and the ensuing Cover-up.
As at 10 March 2025, other than issuing threats, and a Substantial Amount of Visits (in no particular order) via its NETSKOPE provider to the QCAT.Review websites, QCAT Administration fails to respond.
SIGNED
Gordon James Craven - Applicant/Appellant/Complainant