Debrossard and Carey and Ors

In the Federal Circuit Court, Judge Scarlett considered an application by the applicant, Debrossard, seeking to deal with the respondents for an alleged contravention of section 121 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The respondents argued that the application was incompetent and that the Court lacked jurisdiction to make the orders sought.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether it possessed the jurisdiction to entertain an application for contravention of section 121 of the *Family Law Act 1975* in the manner presented by the applicant. This involved determining whether the application was properly constituted and whether the Court had the power to grant the relief sought, particularly in light of the procedural requirements for prosecuting breaches of that section.

Judge Scarlett reasoned that section 121 of the *Family Law Act 1975* prohibits the publication of identifying information concerning parties to family law proceedings. Crucially, the Court noted that proceedings for a breach of this section require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions. As the Federal Circuit Court does not possess prosecutorial power, and the applicant had not obtained the necessary consent, the application was deemed incompetent. Consequently, the Court found that the applicant had no reasonable prospect of successfully prosecuting the application.

Accordingly, the Court ordered that the Application – contravention filed on 8 September 2014 be dismissed as incompetent. The respondents were ordered to file and serve affidavits detailing their costs claims within twenty-one days, with the applicant to file any replying affidavit within a further twenty-one days.