Georgiou v Old England Hotel Pty Ltd

The applicant, Georgiou, applied to the Federal Court for approval of a settlement agreement with the respondent, Old England Hotel Pty Ltd, under Section 33V of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth). The court heard the application on 31 March 2006 and adjourned it to 7 April 2006 to allow further submissions from counsel. The primary issues before the court were the form of the proposed settlement agreement, specifically the provision allowing amendment of the statement of claim after court approval to finalise the list of group members, and the extent to which the court may add or delete persons from that list. The court also considered the decision in Lopez v Star World Enterprises Pty Ltd, which raised concerns about the court's jurisdiction to supervise the settlement process.

The court expressed concern that the proposed grounds for adding or deleting persons from the final list of group members were too narrow, having regard to the decision of Moore J in King v AG Australia Holdings Ltd. The court also considered Finkelstein J’s decision in Lopez v Star World Enterprises Pty Ltd, which expressed reservations about the court’s jurisdiction to supervise the settlement process. The court determined that the proposed settlement agreement needed to be amended to address these issues. The court approved the settlement of the proceeding on the terms contained in the Settlement Agreement dated 5 April 2006, subject to certain conditions, including the publication of the notice to group members in The Age and the Herald Sun newspapers, the filing of an affidavit annexing a list of names and addresses of each group member, and the filing of a Further Amended Application and a Further Amended Statement of Claim.

The court approved the settlement of the proceeding on the terms contained in the Settlement Agreement dated 5 April 2006, subject to certain conditions. The applicant was required to publish the Settlement Notice in The Age and the Herald Sun newspapers within seven days of the approval of the settlement. The applicant was also required to file an affidavit annexing a list of names and addresses of each group member and a Further Amended Application and a Further Amended Statement of Claim. The proceeding was listed for mention on 27 October 2006, and the applicant was required to give notice in writing to the court and the respondent of any proposed orders to be sought at the mention. The court made no order as to costs.