ERICSSON & JARROLD (No.8)

[2019] FCCA 3201

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

ERICSSON & JARROLD (No.8) [2019] FCCA 3201

Catchwords:
FAMILY LAW – Parenting – two contravention applications – five alleged contraventions – applications dismissed.

Legislation:

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), ss.70NAA, 70NAC, 70NAE, 70NAF, 70NBA, 70NEB.

Cases cited:

Ericsson & Beesley (No.3) [2016] FCCA 2111

Applicant: MR ERICSSON

Respondent: MS JARROLD

File Number: DGC 1317 of 2013

Judgment of: Judge Mercuri

Hearing date: 30 April 2019

Date of Last Submission: 30 April 2019

Delivered at: Dandenong

Delivered on: 8 November 2019

REPRESENTATION

Advocate for the applicant: In person

Solicitors for the applicant: None

Counsel for the respondent: Ms Jenkins

Solicitors for the respondent: Rockman & Rockman

ORDERS

1. The father’s contravention application filed 12 October 2018 is dismissed.

2. The father’s contravention application filed 13 February 2019 is dismissed.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment under the pseudonym Ericsson & Jarrold (No.8) is approved pursuant to s.121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT
OF AUSTRALIA
AT DANDENONG

DGC 1317 OF 2013

MR ERICSSON

Applicant

and

MS JARROLD

Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Introduction

1. The court has before it two contravention applications both filed by the applicant father, one on 12 October 2018 (“the October 2018 application”), the other on 13 February 2019 (“the February 2019 application”). The contravention applications were both heard by me on 30 April 2019. The father appeared on his own behalf and the mother was represented by counsel.

2. The father alleges that the mother contravened the final parenting orders made by this court on 18 December 2014 (“the 2014 final orders”) on five occasions.  For reasons given orally at the hearing of this matter, I struck out two of the alleged contraventions. 

3. The remaining contraventions allege that:

   a)during the period from 21 to 28 January 2018, the mother failed to inform the father of her intention to remove the children from the State of Victoria no less than 7 days prior to doing so, and travelled interstate to NSW with the children and did not inform the father of their destination and a telephone number for such period in breach of order 14 of the final orders (“first alleged contravention”);

   b)on 25 November 2017, 24 September 2018 and 30 October 2018, the mother did not facilitate the children’s time with the father for the children’s religious birthdays, nor did she provide alternative make up time (“second alleged contravention”); and

   c)for the period from 8 to 10 February 2019, the mother, without reasonable excuse, refused to allow the children to spend time with the applicant in breach of order 4(a) of the final orders (“third alleged contravention”).

4. At the commencement of the proceedings, the mother pleaded not guilty of each of the three alleged contraventions. 

Factual background

1. Before addressing each of the alleged contraventions, I set out a brief background to these proceedings.

2. The parties commenced living together in 1993 and separated in 2012.  There are three children of the relationship, [X] born … 2003 (“[X]”), [Y] born … 2006…