On 1 August, Supreme Court Justice Kyrou set aside the VCAT...

On 1 August, Supreme Court Justice Kyrou set aside the VCAT decision against PPN and returned the matter to VCAT.

The parties reported that they had been unable to reach a compromise, which is why Justice Kyrou set aside the VCAT ruling.

The barrister for the police argued that the VCAT Senior Member who heard the original case (Robert Davis) should preside over the second hearing, as he was familiar with the particulars. The barrister for PPN argued againt this. Justice Kyrou said that the strong and unusual language used in the VCAT decision, in particular concerning the two PPN directors, went to the credibility of the Senior Member. Justice Kyrou said S/M Davis had displayed clear bias against PPN and its directors. In returning the matter to VCAT, Justice Kyrou said he would recommend that any rehearing of the case should take place before a different S/M.

Justice Kyrou ruled that 100% of the costs of the Supreme Court appeal be paid by the police.

PPN's barrister, John Ribbands, argued that 75% of the costs of the VCAT hearing should also be paid by the police. Justice Kyrou made no ruling on this but left it to a further determination before VCAT.

The police barrister indicated that the police were not in favour of a further hearing before VCAT because this would incur additional expense and time.

Looking beyond the facts as determined by Justice Kyrou, a disinterested observer might conclude that the police case had come unstuck in a big way. VCAT was found to have exceeded its authority and costs of the appeal were awarded against the police.

The ball is now in the police court. They could initiate fresh proceedings against PPN in VCAT, effectively starting again from scratch, or they could let the matter go and take things no further. In that case, VCAT would need to apportion costs for the initial hearing.

If the police decide to try again with VCAT, it could be a long time before they can marshal a case and schedule a new hearing. In the meantime, PPN can continue trading normally with no adverse finding against it or the directors.

PPN has already initiated measures to improve crowd control and reduce the possibility of further incidents among patrons. It would do well to persevere with this approach and learn from all that has gone down over the past few months of the hearing and appeal process. This is important for the company which has suffered a reduction in patronage owing to the adverse publicity associated with the now-discredited VCAT finding.

In summary - it has been a good day for PPN and its shareholders, with justice seen to have been served.