Page "Natural justice" Paragraph 39

Every person has the right to have a hearing and be allowed to present his or her own case.

Should a person not attend the hearing, even with adequate notice given, the adjudicator has the discretion to decide if the hearing should proceed.

In Ridge v. Baldwin, a chief constable succeeded in having his dismissal from service declared void as he had not been given the opportunity to make a defence.

In another case, Chief Constable of the North Wales Police v. Evans ( 1982 ), a chief constable required a police probationer to resign on account of allegations about his private life which he was given no fair opportunity to rebut.

The House of Lords found the dismissal to be unlawful.

Likewise in Surinder Singh Kanda v. Government of the Federation of Malaya ( 1962 ), a public servant facing disciplinary proceedings was not supplied with a copy of a prejudicial report by a board of inquiry which the adjudicating officer had access to before the hearing.

The Privy Council held that the proceedings had failed to provide him a reasonable opportunity of being heard.