Adler v Australian Securities and Investments Commission

The applicant, Mr Adler, sought a stay of a disqualification order made by Santow J on 6 June 2002, pending the determination of his appeal against that order. The respondent was the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

The primary legal issue before the court was whether Mr Adler had made out a sufficient case for the grant of a stay of the disqualification order. This involved considering the principles governing the grant of a stay of an interlocutory or final order pending appeal, particularly in the context of corporate regulatory matters.

Giles JA considered the principles for granting a stay, which generally require the applicant to demonstrate a strong prima facie case or a serious question to be tried, and that the balance of convenience favours the grant of the stay. His Honour found that while Mr Adler had raised serious questions for the appeal, the case for a stay was not made out in its entirety. However, a limited stay was granted to permit Mr Adler to continue as a director of Adler Corporation for the specific purposes of instructing lawyers to prosecute the appeal and enabling Adler Corporation to sell assets to meet penalty and compensation orders by a specified date.

The notice of motion for a stay was otherwise dismissed, and Mr Adler was ordered to pay ASIC's costs of the motion.