New South Wales Consolidated Acts

DORMANT FUNDS ACT 1942 - SECT 16

16 Procedure of Charity Referees

(1) The Charity Referees shall deal with any matter arising before them under this Act at public sittings.

(2) The Charity Referees may, for the purpose of:

(a) hearing an appeal under section 15B, require any trustee or other person referred to in section 7, or

(b) considering a proposal referred to them under section 13, require any person interested in the administration, utilisation or application of the dormant fund concerned or in the proposal,

to attend before the Charity Referees, at such times and places as may be reasonably appointed, for the purpose of being examined in relation to any matter arising out of the appeal or reference and to produce on such examination all books and documents in his or her custody or control relating to the dormant fund.

(3) For the purposes of any such examination the Charity Referees and the chairperson of the Charity Referees shall have the powers, authorities, protections and immunities conferred on commissioners and on the chairperson of a commission respectively, by Division 1 of Part 2 of the Royal Commissions Act 1923 .
The provisions of the Royal Commissions Act 1923 , with the exception of section 13 and Division 2 of Part 2, shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to the examination and to any witness or person summoned by or appearing before the Charity Referees.

(4) The costs of and incidental to:

(a) an appeal under section 15B, and

(b) a request under section 13 to refer a proposal to the Charity Referees and of the proceedings on such a reference,

are to be in the discretion of the Charity Referees who may determine by whom and to what extent costs are to be paid.

(5) The Charity Referees may determine that those costs are to be paid out of the fund concerned.

(6) The Charity Referees may, in determining the costs of and incidental to a successful appeal under section 15B against a determination of the Commissioner, order the trustees of the fund concerned in the appeal to pay out of the fund the costs incurred by the Commissioner prior to the appeal in making the determination.

(7) Costs payable out of a fund pursuant to an order under subsection (6) must not exceed 1 per cent of the value of the fund, as determined by the Charity Referees.

(8) The costs shall be subject to taxation by the taxing officers of the Supreme Court on the application of either party, but that taxation shall be subject to review by a judge of the Supreme Court.

(9) The amount of the costs as taxed and allowed may be recovered as a debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.