Guan v Li

The Court of Appeal considered an appeal brought by Ms Guan against Mr Li. The central dispute concerned the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to hear an appeal that potentially involved matters arising under section 90K of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). The question was whether an application for leave to appeal in such circumstances was required to be instituted in, and could only be determined by, the Full Court of the Federal Court and Family Court of Australia, by operation of section 7 of the *Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-Vesting) Act 1987* (Cth).

The legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether it possessed the necessary jurisdiction to entertain the appeal, given the potential application of the cross-vesting legislation and the specific provisions of the *Family Law Act*. This involved determining the proper forum for an appeal concerning matters that might fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Full Court of the Federal Court and Family Court of Australia under the cross-vesting regime.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the appeal, as presented, did not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Full Court of the Federal Court and Family Court of Australia. Consequently, the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to consider the application for leave to appeal. However, the summons for leave to appeal was dismissed. The Court granted Ms Guan leave to file a fresh summons for leave to appeal within seven days, ordering that she pay the costs thrown away by any fresh application and the costs of the hearing on 26 August 2022.