Page:Fair Rents Act, 1915 (nsw).djvu/7

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(2) Any person who unlawfully does or procures any act or thing to be done for the purpose of imposing any detriment or disadvantage upon a lessee by reason of his having made an application under this Act, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds; and if two or more persons concur in the doing of any such act, or in procuring any such thing to be done, they shall each be liable to a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Jurisdiction of the court. 18. The court in every case shall have jurisdiction to inquire and decide whether any application or subject matter is within the provisions of this Act, and whether such application and subject matter may be considered and determined hereunder; and every decision, determination, and order of the court purporting to have been made under the provisions of this Act shall be final, and no writ of prohibition or certiorari shall lie in respect thereof.

19. The court shall have the powers conferred by the Royal Commissioners Evidence Act, 1901, on a commissioner appointed thereunder; and the said Act, section nine excepted, shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to any witness or person summoned by or appearing before the court.

20. No costs shall be allowed in any proceeding under this Act.

General provisions. 21. Any covenant or agreement by which any person purports to limit his right to proceed under this Act for the determination of the fair rent of a dwelling-house, or to affect any rights to which he would be entitled under this Act shall be void.

22. The clerk or other officer having custody of the rate-books of a municipality or shire shall allow the registrar to inspect and take copies of or extracts from such rate books, and shall not be entitled to charge any fees in respect of such inspection, copies, or extracts.

23. Any person on tendering the sum of sixpence shall be entitled to obtain from the registrar information as to the fair rent of any dwelling-house as fixed by the court. Rh