Charles Delius Somerville Alexander and Ors (t/as Minter Ellison) v Perpetual Trustees WA Limited and Anor (No. 2)

The parties to this proceeding were Charles Delius Somerville Alexander and others, trading as Minter Ellison (the appellants), and Perpetual Trustees WA Limited and another (the respondents). The dispute concerned an application for supplementary reasons for judgment following an earlier decision of the court. The court hearing this matter was the Court of Appeal of Victoria.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether it should provide supplementary reasons for its previous judgment. This question arose in the context of an underlying dispute involving allegations of breach of trust and whether beneficiaries had a right of action to recover compensation against a third party, as contemplated by section 23B of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic).

The court considered the principles governing the provision of supplementary reasons, noting that such applications are generally only granted in exceptional circumstances, such as where the original reasons are demonstrably inadequate or where there has been a misunderstanding of the court's findings. The court found that the appellants had not established grounds for the provision of supplementary reasons, implying that the original judgment was considered sufficient.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal ordered that the appeal be dismissed with costs confirmed.