Field v Perpetual Ltd

Field v Perpetual Ltd is a case where the Applicant sought to challenge a judgment obtained by the Respondent in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The Applicant alleged that the Respondent had acted in a manner that amounted to perverting the course of justice and sought an injunction to prevent the enforcement of the judgment, as well as an order for the Federal Court to set aside the judgment. The Federal Court was required to determine whether the Applicant's claims disclosed a cause of action and, if so, whether the Court should grant the relief sought. The court found that the Applicant's claims did not disclose a cause of action and, even if they did, the Court would not grant the relief sought. The court held that the rights under the mortgage had merged in the judgment obtained in the Supreme Court, and that an injunction restraining the Respondent from enforcing the judgment would be unfair and inequitable. The application to set aside the judgment was a collateral attack on a judgment regularly entered, and the application was therefore an abuse of process.

The court further held that the Applicant had not followed the proper procedures to seek a set aside of the judgment, and that an injunction restraining the Respondent from enforcing the judgment would be tantamount to an injunction restraining a mortgagee's sale. Such an injunction will not be granted unless the mortgagor pays the mortgage debt into Court. The court concluded that this proceeding was an abuse of process and vexatious, and dismissed the Applicant's claims. The court did not make any orders in favour of the Applicant, and the judgment of the Supreme Court of Victoria remained in full force and effect.