[2025] VSCA 66
General information, not legal advice.
Court of Appeal (Vic)
2025-04-07
Judd J, Walker JA
Original judgment source is linked above.
On 23 November 2022, not long after the plaintiff submitted his research paper, the plaintiff left for Bangladesh.
On 25 November 2022, the plaintiff received an email from Dr Matt Harvey requesting an urgent discussion about his assessment.
On 28 November 2022, the plaintiff responded indicating that he had left a voice message with Dr Harvey and that he was overseas in a remote area with some network issues.
On 7 December 2022, Dr Harvey sent an email to the plaintiff notifying him of an allegation of plagiarism, inviting him to attend a Zoom investigation meeting on 15 December 2022 and informing him that he had the right to seek assistance from the Student Advocacy Service.
On 8 December 2022, the plaintiff sent an email to the Academic Integrity Office indicating that he had given an explanation to Dr Harvey.
On 20 December 2022, Dr Harvey emailed the plaintiff with his decision. Dr Harvey gave reasons for his decision as follows:
- Having regard to the Academic Integrity Guidelines and your response to the allegations I note that the plagiarised passages constitute a large proportion of the assignment, that you are an experienced student, and that your failure to acknowledge the evidence provided to you suggests that your actions were deliberate and planned.
Dr Harvey also informed the plaintiff that he had a right to appeal and that if he needed assistance he should contact the Student Advocacy Service.
On 18 January 2023, the plaintiff lodged an appeal against that decision. The plaintiff remained in Bangladesh at this time and he subsequently filed a report dated 20 January 2023 from Dr Syed Mushfique Hasan certifying as follows [sic]:
- It hes been certified that Mohammad Sohel Ahmed, 40 years of age is came to me with the coplain of Low Back Pain with Restriction of the movement of Right Leg. His back pain is radiating btowards lowe limb with numbness, After all physical and clinical examination Mr. Mohammad Sohel is diagnosed a case of PLID, in L3-L4 and L5-S1. His pain is severe in nature. He needs complete bed rest for 6 month with pelvic traction. He is unable to journey for long period for 12 months.
On 20 April 2023, the plaintiff was advised that an Appeal Panel Chair had dismissed his appeal as being without merit. The material provided to the plaintiff concluded:
- ... the original decision of the University has been confirmed and the outcome will be communicated to the original decision maker for closure.
- The decision of the Student Appeals Panel is the final decision of the University.
- If you feel that you have grounds, you may seek an external review of the process for determining the University decision, including the appeal decision, from an appropriate, independent external body such as the Victoria Ombudsman.
The plaintiff affirmed that:
- After my application for panel hearing was rejected on 20 April 2023 by Victoria University, I approached both the Victoria Legal Aid and Justice Connect but they could not help me as the matter was not within their scope of practice.
On 18 May 2023, the plaintiff submitted a complaint form to the Victorian Ombudsman (the Ombudsman).
On 19 May 2023, the plaintiff informed the University by email that he had appealed to the Ombudsman and on 23 May 2023 provided proof of lodgement.
On 1 June 2023, an Investigation Officer with the Ombudsman informed the plaintiff that:
- As the university has made its decision in line with the Student Misconduct Regulations 2019, I do not consider the university has erred in responding to your complaint. Our office does not have the ability to direct the university to reach a different decision about this.
On 4 June 2023, the plaintiff sent an email to the University stating that he had received the outcome from the Ombudsman and was considering appealing the University decision to the Court. He further stated [sic]:
- I will be waiting 5 days between 5 June 2023 till 9 June 2023 business hours to leave the floor open for any discussion and if we did not achieve anything then I have to seriously consider filing documents to court from the following week and onwards
On 6 June 2023, the University re-confirmed that the decision of the Student Appeals Panel was the final decision of the University and that the University considered the matter closed.
As part of his material, the plaintiff exhibited a further report from Dr Hasan dated 22 February 2024 certifying as follows [sic]:
- It has been certified that Mr.Mohammad Shohel Ahmed, Aged- 42 years is under my treatment since 20 January 2023. Initially he was diagnosed with PLID in L3-L4 & L-5 - S-1 .His pain was severe in nature & He was unable for sitting as well as standing for long time ,which prevents him to have a long flight. He Develops Same physical condition with sever radiating Low Back Pain from 17.01.24. After examine him both physically & clinically I found that he have got repeted PLID with Herniation in L5-S1 as well as Disc Prolapses this time. His physical condition is worse then previous PLID. Now Mr. Mohammad Shohel Ahmed, 42 Years need complete bed rest for )6 months with medication with Physiotherapy ( 1. Pelvic Traction , SWV ) at least for 09 months .In this physical condition Mr. Mohammad Shohel Ahmed is uncertain as to when he will able to travel.
On 20 April 2024 the plaintiff arrived back in Australia. On 30 April 2024 he filed the Originating Motion. On 27 May 2024 he served the Originating Motion on the defendant.[2]
The factors that typically bear on whether there are special circumstances that warrant extending time include the period of the delay, the reasons for the delay, whether the plaintiff has an arguable case, justice to both parties including any prejudice occasioned by the delay, and the public interest in the finality of litigation. No one circumstance is necessarily determinative; all relevant factors (positive and negative) need to be considered.[5]
(a) due to a lack of help and his personal lack of legal knowledge and resources, he could not file the application in time; and
(b) he was unable to return to Australia due to medical issues.
In terms of prospects of success, I accept the defendant's submission that there is considerable doubt as to whether the Supreme Court has supervisory jurisdiction over the University in respect of an assessment decision. It is not necessary for me to determine this question, nor is it necessary for me to give any detailed consideration to the merits of the proceeding. Even assuming that the plaintiff has an arguable case, the plaintiff has not established that special circumstances exist so as to justify an extension of time.
The considerations relied on by the plaintiff must be considered in the context of a 10 month delay and the need for finality.
In respect of the first consideration, as a law student, the plaintiff was better placed than most to research and progress a Supreme Court proceeding. At the relevant time he was able to pursue his grievance with the University and make a complaint to the Ombudsman. He has ultimately demonstrated that he was able to prepare and issue an originating motion, together with affidavit material. Further, the plaintiff could not simply reach out to Victoria Legal Aid and Justice Connect in the hope that legal assistance might be provided at some point in the future. The evidence relied on by the plaintiff was not precise as to the dates that he received notification from Victoria Legal Aid and Justice Connect. However, even accepting his oral submission that he did not receive notification from Justice Connect until some months later, the plaintiff, by around April 2023, had to make a decision as to whether he would continue to seek legal assistance other than through Victoria Legal Aid or Justice Connect or progress a court proceeding without that assistance.
In respect of the second consideration, this is more concerned with the question of whether it was practicable for the plaintiff to serve the originating motion within the meaning of r 56.03 of the Rules. In any event, the plaintiff's affidavit material does not address whether he might have been able to effect service other than by the plaintiff, himself, performing the act of personal service. In this regard, the plaintiff has not addressed whether he could have engaged somebody to effect service on his behalf, nor has he explained why he could not have emailed the University to ascertain whether service could be effected by another method, for example by service on the University's solicitors.
In all of the circumstances of this matter, I am not persuaded that any of the considerations relied on by the plaintiff, whether alone or in combination, are sufficient to constitute 'special circumstances' within the meaning of r 56.02(3) of the Rules.[6]
Applicant did not have any friends who would do that for him and in the trial the primary judge did not even ask him whether he has any friend who could affect that service, thus her Honour presumption is wrong
The defendant accepted that it filed its affidavit material in reply to the extension of time application one day later than required, however I am not satisfied that the defendant otherwise failed to meet time requirements. In any event this issue has no bearing on the outcome of the plaintiff's application for an extension of time.[11]
A failure to comply with these Rules is an irregularity and does not render a proceeding or any step taken, or any document, judgment or order in the proceeding, a nullity.
Although [Monash University] accepted before the judge, at least for the purposes of its summary judgment application, that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to judicially review the decision of the University to assess a student at a particular mark, that conclusion is not self-evident. Likewise, the amenability of a record of student assessment to a writ of certiorari is by no means clear.[20]
[1] Ahamed v Victoria University [2024] VSC 604 ('Reasons').
[4] [2002] VSC 256; (2002) 18 VAR 458, 462 [18] (Osborn J); [2002] VSC 256, upheld on appeal in Mann v Medical Practitioners Board (2004) 21 VAR 429; [2004] VSCA 148.
[5] [2018] VSC 605, [28] (Richards J) (citations omitted).
[6] Reasons, [31]-[35] (citations omitted).
[7] I will refer to these questions as the proposed grounds of appeal, for convenience.
[9] In that regard, r 6.11 provides for the recognition of informal service.
[12] For completeness I note that even if the other delays alleged by Mr Ahamed were made out, they, too would have had no relevance to whether there were special circumstances that warranted extending time for him to file his originating motion.
[16] See, eg, Horne v Retirement Guide Management Pty Ltd [2017] VSCA 47, [72] (Warren CJ, Tate and Beach JJA).
[17] The University's written submissions pointed out that, on one of the medical certificates Mr Ahamed had produced, dated 20 January 2023, his age was reported as 40, whereas on a different medical certificate his age was reported as 42. That second medical certificate was dated 22 February 2024; the University inaccurately stated the date of that certificate as 22 February 2022.
[18] The application for leave to appeal referred to Mann v Medical Practitioners Board (2002) 18 VAR 458; [2002] VSC 256, Naik v Monash University [2019] VSCA 72, and Naik v Monash University [2018] VSC 605.
[19] Indeed, the judge's approach was consistent with the approach Mr Ahamed had outlined in his written submissions below, where he submitted that a hearing of an application for an extension of time 'should not be transformed into a de facto full hearing', and that if a judge 'travels beyond an examination of the grounds at what should be a reasonably impressionistic level into a fuller consideration of the arguments for and against each ground of review', that is not a function appropriate to a discretionary decision concerning an extension of time. Rather, 'the correct approach may be expressed by the use of language such as whether a ground is "arguable", "reasonably arguable", "sufficiently arguable" or has "reasonable prospects of success"' (quoting from the judgment of Mortimer J in MZABP v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2015] FCA 1391; (2015) 242 FCR 585, 597-8 [62]-[63]; [2015] FCA 1391).
[20] [2019] VSCA 72, [36].
Ahamed
Victoria University [2025] VSCA 66
[2024] VSC 604 (K Judd J)
(2015) 242 FCR 585
(1936) 55 CLR 499