Eagle & Scarlett (No 2)

[2020] FamCAFC 291

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

EAGLE & SCARLETT (NO. 2) [2020] FamCAFC 291

FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PARENTING – Appeal against final parenting orders – Where no time was ordered between the appellant father and the child – Apprehended bias – Alleged errors of fact – Only material errors of fact justify appellate intervention – Whether there was internal contradictions within the reasons – Alleged failure to have regard to evidence – Weight challenges – Alleged failure to order a further psychological report – Where the behaviours of the father, not their cause, plainly concerned the primary judge – Where the conviction of the father for assaulting the respondent mother post-separation compelled the displacement of the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility – Where no ground of appeal is established – Appeal dismissed.

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 61DA

De Winter v De Winter (1979) 23 ALR 211
Ebner v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy (2000) 205 CLR 337; [2000] HCA 63
Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118; [2003] HCA 22
Gronow v Gronow (1979) 144 CLR 513; [1979] HCA 63
House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499; [1936] HCA 40
Johnson v Johnson (2000) 201 CLR 488; [2000] HCA 48
Whisprun Pty Ltd v Dixon (2003) 200 ALR 447; [2003] HCA 48

APPELLANT: Mr Eagle

RESPONDENT: Ms Scarlett

INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER: JLM Family Lawyers

FILE NUMBER: PAC 2781 of 2016

APPEAL NUMBER: EAA 6 of 2020

DATE DELIVERED: 20 November 2020

PLACE DELIVERED: Cairns

PLACE HEARD: Sydney (via video link)

JUDGMENT OF: Strickland, Aldridge & Tree JJ

HEARING DATE: 9 October 2020

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION: Federal Circuit Court of Australia

LOWER COURT JUDGMENT DATE: 13 December 2019

LOWER COURT MNC: [2019] FCCA 3584

REPRESENTATION

THE APPELLANT: Litigant in person

COUNSEL FOR THE RESPONDENT: Mr Reeves

SOLICITOR FOR THE RESPONDENT: Reid Legal Pty Ltd

COUNSEL FOR THE INDEPENDENT CHILDREN’S LAWYER Mr Greenaway

SOLICITOR FOR THE INDEPENDENT CHILREN’S LAWYER JLM Family Lawyers

Orders

1. Appeal No. EAA 6 of 2020 be dismissed.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry of the order in the Court’s records.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym  Eagle & Scarlett (No. 2) has been approved by the Chief Justice pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for Judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 17.02A(b) of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 17.02 Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth).

THE FULL COURT OF THE FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT SYDNEY

Appeal Number: EAA 6 of 2020
File Number: PAC 2781 of 2016

Mr Eagle

Appellant

And

Ms Scarlett

Respondent

And

Independent Children’s Lawyer

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Introduction

1. On 13 December 2019, the primary judge made final parenting orders in relation to the only child of the parties’ relationship,…