Cristovao v Trott

Cristovao, a self-represented litigant, filed an application for judicial review against the Registrars of the Federal Court of Australia, challenging the Registrars' decisions to refuse to accept documents for filing under rule 2.26 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth). The documents in question included an interlocutory application seeking to set aside the judgment of the Full Court in Cristovao v Tan & Tan Lawyers Pty Ltd [2018] FCAFC 41. The Full Court had dismissed an appeal by Cristovao against a sequestration order made against him. The Registrars had refused to accept the interlocutory application for filing, and the applicant now sought to review the Registrars' decisions.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Registrars' conduct induced or affected by fraud, or whether all letters from the Registrars comprised decisions. The court also considered whether the application was made within the requisite time and whether the application was an abuse of process. Additionally, the court examined the authority of the Registrars to refuse to accept the interlocutory application for filing and the potential for the interlocutory application to be considered as an abuse of process.

The court found that the Registrars' conduct was not induced or affected by fraud and that not all letters from the Registrars comprised decisions. The court held that the application was made within the requisite time and that there was no abuse of process. The court further found that the Registrars had the authority to refuse to accept the interlocutory application for filing as it did not reflect the intention of the Court and was not interlocutory in nature. The court dismissed the application for judicial review.

The court dismissed the application for judicial review filed on 11 June 2018 and extended the time for filing an application for review from the decisions the subject of the review application to 11 June 2018.