New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ACT 2013 - SECT 27

27 Constitution of Tribunal

(1) The Tribunal is to be constituted as follows--

(a) in the case of an internal appeal or designated external appeal--by an Appeal Panel of the Tribunal consisting of--

(i) one member who is an Australian lawyer, or

(ii) 2 or more members (at least one of whom must be an Australian lawyer),

(b) in the case of proceedings for contempt of the Tribunal--by one or more of the following members--

(i) the President,

(ii) any other member who is a current or former NSW judicial officer,

(c) in the case of proceedings for a contravention of a civil penalty provision of this Act--by one or more of the following--

(i) the President,

(ii) a Deputy President,

(iii) a principal member who is an Australian lawyer of at least 7 years' standing,

(d) in the case of any other proceedings--by one or more Division members of the Division to which the function of dealing with the proceedings is allocated.

Note : The functions of the Tribunal are generally exercised in the Divisions of the Tribunal by Division members. However, the functions of the Tribunal when constituted by an Appeal Panel or in exercise of its enforcement jurisdiction are not allocated to any particular Division of the Tribunal. See section 16(4).
A Division Schedule for a Division may, in some cases, make special provision for the constitution of the Tribunal when exercising functions allocated to that Division (including the qualifications of members to sit in specified kinds of proceedings). It may also provide for certain Division functions to be exercised by a registrar and for the constitution of Appeal Panels in internal appeals against decisions made in the Division.
The procedural rules may also authorise a registrar to make ancillary or interlocutory decisions of the Tribunal on behalf of the Tribunal. See section 23(6).

(2) The President may give or revoke a direction as to the members who are to constitute the Tribunal for the purposes of any particular proceedings.

Note : The President may delegate the function of constituting the Tribunal for particular proceedings to a Division Head for a Division of the Tribunal or another member. See clause 12 of Schedule 2.

(3) In giving a direction as to the members who are to constitute the Tribunal for the purposes of any particular proceedings, the President is to have regard to the following matters--

(a) the degree of public importance or complexity of the subject-matter of the proceedings,

(b) the need for any of the members to have special knowledge or experience in the subject-matter of the proceedings,

(c) any applicable requirements in relation to the constitution of the Tribunal that are specified by a Division Schedule for a Division of the Tribunal or enabling legislation,

(d) such other matters as the President considers relevant.

(4) The President may give directions (whether for particular proceedings, classes of proceedings or generally) as to which member is to preside at proceedings in the Tribunal when the Tribunal is constituted by more than one member.

(5) There may be more than one sitting of the Tribunal (including when constituted as an Appeal Panel) at the same time.

(6) In this section--

"designated external appeal" means any of the following--

(a) an external appeal under section 45 of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Act 2007 ,

(b) an external appeal under section 50 of the NSW Trustee and Guardian Act 2009 ,

(c) any other external appeal that this Act or enabling legislation has declared to be a designated external appeal for the purposes of this section.