DHR International Inc v Challis; Hoffmann v Challis

The case involved DHR International Inc and Hoffmann, who were the plaintiffs, and Challis, the defendant. The plaintiffs sought damages for defamation, and the defendant applied for security for costs. The matter was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The plaintiffs argued that the defendant was not entitled to security for costs because they were not domiciled in Australia, and the individual plaintiff was ordinarily resident outside of Australia.

The legal issues the court had to decide were whether the defendant was entitled to security for costs under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and whether the defendant was entitled to costs under the common law when the individual plaintiff was ordinarily resident outside of Australia. The court had to consider the meaning of "domiciled" and "ordinarily resident" in the context of the relevant legislation and common law principles.

The court held that the defendant was not entitled to security for costs under the Corporations Act because the corporate plaintiff was not domiciled in Australia. The court found that the corporate plaintiff's domicile was in the United States, and that it had not established a sufficient connection with Australia to be considered domiciled here. The court also held that the defendant was not entitled to costs under the common law because the individual plaintiff was ordinarily resident outside of Australia, and there was no evidence that he had established a sufficient connection with Australia to be considered ordinarily resident here.

The court ordered that the defendant pay the plaintiffs' costs of the application for security for costs.