Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu v Australian Securities Commission

The case of Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu v Australian Securities Commission involved a dispute between the applicant, Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu, and the Australian Securities Commission (ASC). The matter was before the Federal Court, where Deloitte sought a review of decisions made by the ASC under sections 50, 16, and 18 of the Australian Securities Commission Act 1989 (Cth). The central issue was whether sections 16 and 18 of the Act prescribed procedures required by law to be observed in connection with the making of decisions by the ASC under section 50 of the Act.

The court needed to determine if the procedural requirements outlined in sections 16 and 18 of the Act were indeed necessary for the decision-making process under section 50. The applicant argued that the ASC had not adhered to the prescribed procedures, thereby invalidating the decisions. The ASC, on the other hand, contended that the procedures were not strictly mandatory and that the court should not intervene on this basis. The court's task was to interpret the legislative framework and determine whether the failure to follow the procedures constituted a legal error warranting judicial review.

The Federal Court found that sections 16 and 18 of the Act did not prescribe mandatory procedures for the decision-making process under section 50. The court held that the statutory language did not necessitate compliance with these sections as a prerequisite for the validity of decisions made by the ASC. Consequently, the court dismissed the application for review, concluding that the procedural irregularities did not invalidate the decisions. The court granted leave for the applicant to amend its application, reserving the question of costs for a later determination.