Greville and Greville & Anor

In the Family Court of Australia, Justice Cronin considered proceedings initiated by Ms Greville, who was subject to a VCAT administration order, and a response filed by Mr Greville. The core of the dispute revolved around the validity and appropriateness of the family law proceedings given Ms Greville's legal incapacity.

The court was required to determine whether the family law proceedings, commenced by Ms Greville through her solicitors, were validly instituted and should continue, or if they should be struck out due to her administration order. A further issue concerned the costs associated with these proceedings.

Justice Cronin reasoned that the VCAT administration order rendered Ms Greville legally incapable of initiating or conducting legal proceedings in her own right. Consequently, the application initiating the proceedings and the response thereto were struck out. The court ordered that Ms Greville pay Mr Greville’s costs of the applications that were struck out, as well as the costs of enforcement proceedings, to be determined by agreement or assessment. The court also made orders appointing case guardians for Ms Greville and addressed other ancillary matters, including the discharge of Ms Seles and the adjournment of an enforcement application.