Ashby v Slipper

In Ashby v Slipper, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia considered an application for leave to appeal from a decision of Siopis J to dismiss proceedings as an abuse of process. The applicants, Ashby and his solicitor Harmer, sought to appeal against the primary judge’s decision. The legal issues before the Court included whether the appeal should be dismissed as an abuse of process, whether adverse findings made against the solicitor should stand, and whether the Court had a duty to act in relation to a perceived abuse of process.

The Court held that Harmer, despite not being a party to the proceeding, ought not be granted leave to appeal. However, the Court concluded that the adverse findings in relation to Harmer’s conduct, with their flow-on effect upon Ashby, ought not to have been made. The Court found that the primary judge had erred in rejecting Ashby’s unchallenged claim that he felt distressed and harassed by Slipper’s alleged sexual conduct. The Court emphasised that it may be wrong, unreasonable or perverse to reject unchallenged evidence and overturned the decision of the primary judge on the basis of an error of fact.

The Court set aside the orders made by Siopis J and in lieu thereof, ordered that the respondent's interlocutory application be refused and that the respondent pay the applicant's costs. The application for leave to appeal was refused, and the applicant was ordered to pay the first respondent's costs.