Andreoli v Hodges

[2000] HCATrans 2

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry
  Sydney  No S140 of 1999

B e t w e e n -

PIERO ANDREOLI

Applicant

and

STEPHEN HODGES

Respondent

Application for special leave to appeal

GLEESON CJ
GUMMOW J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT SYDNEY ON TUESDAY, 30 MAY 2000, AT 3.06 PM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

MR P. ANDREOLI appeared in person.

MR G. CURTIN:   I appear for the respondent, may it please your Honours.  (instructed by Turtons Lawyers)

GLEESON CJ:   Yes, Mr Andreoli.  Come to the centre there, please.

MR ANDREOLI:   This young man can speak for me because my English is not much - - -

GLEESON CJ:   All right, come to the centre where there is a microphone and we can hear you better.  Yes, go ahead.

MR P. CHESSELL:   I am just here, your Honour, because Mr Andreoli he has trouble with his English and I have been a friend of his years ago and ‑ ‑ ‑

GLEESON CJ:   Okay.  Well now, you are going to speak for him.

MR CHESSELL:   Well, he is going to speak and I am going to help him if he has any problem with his English.  He tends to - - -

GLEESON CJ:   All right.  Yes, go ahead, Mr Andreoli, time is running.

MR ANDREOLI:   I do not know where to start anyway but I lost my equipment - dry cleaning equipment - - -

GLEESON CJ:   Stand up.

MR ANDREOLI:   Defendant let me lose all my dry cleaning equipment and I ring up to the Law Society and Law Society give some paper to solicitor and solicitor sue them for professional negligence and that is the case has gone like this and they think they are not negligent but I lost my machinery.  I been working 40 years for that machinery.  Also, he accused me to not live in Commonwealth because I been travelling.  I never been travelling.  I been 47 years in Australia.  In 47 years I been three times back to Europe for three weeks but the rest always have been in Australia.

GLEESON CJ:   You have been living here for 47 years?

MR ANDREOLI:   Yes, sir.

GLEESON CJ:   And carrying on a dry cleaning business for a large part of that time.

MR ANDREOLI:   For 10/11 years - about 12 years because I had another business before and I carry on for two years and 10 years in the other business.

GLEESON CJ:   Now, Mr Andreoli, the question that we have to focus on is whether you have shown any mistake made in the judgment of the Court of Appeal.  So, would you like to tell us what you say was the mistake they made.

MR ANDREOLI:   I think this is in the book where is the mistake.  I should get legal aid to carry on with my case because I been seeing some doctor and psychiatrist and I supposed to entitle of - - -

GUMMOW J:   Well, you have some written submissions in the book at page 63.  Have you a copy of the book?

MR ANDREOLI:   Yes, your Honour.

GUMMOW J:   Page 63.  That sets out in writing what you want to argue.

MR ANDREOLI:   Yes, your Honour.

GUMMOW J:   The question is how much you want to say in addition to what is set out in the writing on this point where the Court of Appeal went wrong.

MR ANDREOLI:   Court of Appeal went wrong because did not have money to carry on with the case because they wanted $20,000 up in front and before that, you know, since 97 we was ready to go on with solicitor, with barrister, and the defendant was not ready.

GUMMOW J:   The point was all about security for costs, was it not?

MR ANDREOLI:   Yes, your Honour.  And if I can show this to the Court, can I?

GLEESON CJ:   Yes, thank you. 

MR ANDREOLI:   Here so many times been on to the court and they never was ready. 

GLEESON CJ:   Yes.

MR ANDREOLI:   I cannot say anything.

GLEESON CJ:   All right, thank you very much.  Take a seat then, Mr Andreoli.  We do not need to hear you, Mr Curtin.

In this matter we have considered the written arguments prepared by Mr Andreoli and the additional oral argument that he has advanced this afternoon.  We are not persuaded that there is any error shown in the reasoning of the Court of Appeal and the application for special leave to appeal is refused.  The applicant must pay the costs of the respondent.

MR CURTIN:   May it please your Honours.

AT 3.13 PM THE MATTER WAS CONCLUDED