Armet v CFC Consolidated Pty Ltd (No 3)
[2022] FedCFamC2G 950
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
(DIVISION 2)
Armet v CFC Consolidated Pty Ltd (No 3) [2022] FedCFamC2G 950
File number(s): PEG 52 of 2021 Judgment of: JUDGE LUCEV Date of judgment: 11 November 2022 Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Extension of hearing dates – reasons for extension being medical conditions, language and subpoena of two witnesses no longer working for the Respondent – provision of transcript at no cost Legislation: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth) s 190 Cases cited: Armet v CFC Consolidated Pty Ltd (No 2) [2022] FedCFamC2G 648 Division: Division 2 General Federal Law Number of paragraphs: 8 Date of last submission/s: 11 November 2022 Date of hearing: 11 November 2022 Place: Perth Applicant: In person by phone via CISCO Webex Counsel for the Respondent: Mr R French Solicitor for the Respondent: Barry Nilsson Lawyers ORDERS
PEG 52 of 2021 FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA (DIVISION 2)
BETWEEN: STEPHANE ARMET
Applicant
AND: CFC CONSOLIDATED PTY LTD
Respondent
order made by:
JUDGE LUCEV
DATE OF ORDER:
11 NOVEMBER 2022
THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
1.The Respondent have leave to file and serve an amended outline of submissions by 4.00pm on 14 November 2022.
2.In relation to the Applicant’s Application in a Proceeding filed 11 October 2022:
(a)order 8 of the Court’s orders of 20 May 2022 be set aside;
(b)the matter now be listed for hearing at 9am on 17, 20 and 21 February 2023 with daily sitting hours of 9.00am – 1.00pm and 2.00pm – 5.30pm;
(c)otherwise the Applicant’s Application in a Proceeding be dismissed.
3.Costs, if any, be reserved.
Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court’s records.
Note: The Court may vary or set aside a judgment or order to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 17.05(2)(g) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 17.05 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) (General Federal Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
(Delivered ex tempore and revised from the transcript)JUDGE LUCEV
On 11 October 2022 the applicant Mr Stephane Armet (“Mr Armet”) filed an Application in a Proceeding (“Application”) seeking orders:
(a)to extend the listed sitting days for this matter from two days to four days; and
(b)for the provision of a transcript free of charge at the end of the hearing, presently listed for 20 February 2023 and 21 February 2023 (“Final Hearing”).
At the hearing of the Application today there also arose the matter of some very minor amendments to the Outline of Submissions which had been filed by the respondent (“CFC Consolidated”) on 7 November 2022. The Court will make an order that CFC Consolidated have leave to file and serve an amended outline of submissions by 4 pm on 14 November 2022.
As to the extension of the Final Hearing dates, Mr Armet relies in particular upon the fact that CFC Consolidated is bringing two witnesses to the Final Hearing under subpoena and in respect of whom no affidavits, it appears, will be filed. Mr Armet relies further on the volume of the "facts and evidence" to be presented at the Final Hearing and in particular notes the medical and language issues that he faces.
CFC Consolidated, through Counsel, has indicated that the two witnesses to be subpoenaed are seemingly no longer employed by CFC Consolidated, but that in any event, their evidence at the Final Hearing will be relatively short by way of examination-in-chief. The Court discussed with Counsel for CFC Consolidated, briefly during the course of today's Application hearing, that the two witnesses’ short examination-in-chief does not necessarily guarantee a short stay in the witness box as Mr Armet is entitled to cross-examine them on matters relevant to the issues in dispute in these proceedings. Given that Mr Armet is a self-represented litigant, for whom English is not his first language, it would appear that this might pose a more significant difficulty than would ordinarily be the case in a hearing where affidavits were not filed for the proposed witnesses and where all parties are not represented by Counsel.
What, however, concerns the Court the most is that if the Final Hearing remains listed for two days and does not complete, there is a probability that the Court would not be able to provide further dates for further hearing of the matter until sometime later in 2023 and possibly 2024. That is plainly undesirable, and it is also undesirable that there may be a split in a hearing of this type, either at all, or certainly, for a matter of many months. It would also be contrary to some of the objects related to the efficient and timely disposal of matters in this Court. As set out in s 190 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth):
(1)The overarching purpose of the civil practice and procedure provisions is to facilitate the just resolution of disputes:
(a) according to law; and
(b) as quickly, inexpensively and efficiently as possible.
The Court notes that the two witnesses for CFC Consolidated are appearing under a subpoena and not affidavit. As the Court has indicated, Mr Armet will not have the opportunity to prepare cross-examination in advance. The Court also notes that there is not an inconsiderable volume of material filed in these proceedings in relation to which they might be cross-examined and there is also not an inconsiderable volume of material in these proceedings in respect of which there are potential objections to be raised by CFC Consolidated in circumstances where those matters might take some time to resolve at the Final Hearing.
In order to resolve that matter the Court, bearing in mind that Mr Armet has stated that he wants the Final Hearing extended from two days to four days, indicated during the course of today's Application hearing that, fortuitously, 17 February 2023 is presently free. This date is the Friday prior to the presently listed dates for the Final Hearing, being 20 February 2023 and 21 February 2023. If the sitting hours are adjusted so that the Court sits from 9.00am to 1.00pm, and 2.00pm to 5.30pm on each of those three days, that is 17 February 2023, 20 February 2023 and 21 February 2023, the additional sitting hours per day on those three days will mean that there is roughly the equivalent of a normal four day hearing. For that reason, there will be an order amending the hearing dates and times.
With respect to the provision of a transcript at no cost, save for the fact that Mr Armet seeks the transcript of the Final Hearing itself for the purposes, he says, of any potential appeal, nothing has changed since the Court delivered fulsome reasons in relation to the provision of transcript at no cost in Armet v CFC Consolidated Pty Ltd (No 2) [2022] FedCFamC2G 648 (“Armet (No 2)”), including therein addressing the issue of the provision of a transcript for the purposes of an appeal. In short, if Mr Armet wishes to have the transcript he must either pay for it or wait for the Court's copy to become available after the Final Hearing and inspect it in the Registry. In that respect, nothing has changed since Armet (No 2) was delivered.
I certify that the preceding eight (8) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment of Judge Lucev. Associate:
Dated: 15 November 2022
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