Hall v RH & CE McColl Pty Ltd

[2007] QCA 182

SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

Hall v RH & CE McColl P/L [2007] QCA 182

PARTIES:

ALLEN LEONARD HALL
(plaintiff/appellant)
v
RH & CE MCCOLL PTY LTD ACN 075 377 945
(defendant/respondent)

FILE NO/S:

Appeal No 11027 of 2006
DC No 3087 of 2006

DIVISION:

Court of Appeal

PROCEEDING:

General Civil Appeal

ORIGINATING COURT:

District Court at Brisbane

DELIVERED ON:

1 June 2007

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

4 May 2007

JUDGES:

McMurdo P, Jerrard JA and Holmes JA
Separate reasons for judgment of each member of the Court, each concurring as to the orders made

ORDER:

1. Appeal dismissed
2. Appellant to pay the respondent’s costs assessed on the standard basis
3. Appellant’s solicitors to promptly provide the appellant with a copy of these reasons

CATCHWORDS:

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – JUDICIAL REVIEW AT COMMON LAW – EXCESS OF POWER AND DEFECTIVE USE OF POWERS – ABUSE OF DISCRETIONARY POWER – CONSIDERATION OF IRRELEVANT MATTER OR REFUSAL TO CONSIDER RELEVANT MATTER – where the applicant injured himself in Queensland – where the applicant had been employed by the defendant New South Wales company – where the applicant sought compensation – where the respondent filed for an order to strike out the claim and statement of claim for want of prosecution – whether the learned trial judge’s decision to strike out the claim was an appropriate exercise of the discretion

Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), r 389(2) WorkCoverQueensland Act 1996 (Qld), s 253  
Workers’ Compensation Act 1987 (NSW)

Tyler v Custom Credit Corp Ltd & Ors[2000] QCA 178; Appeal No 9466 of 1999, 19 May 2000, applied

COUNSEL:

S A Lynch for the appellant
A M Musgrave for the respondent

SOLICITORS:

Ryan Lawyers for the appellant
Hawthorn Cuppaidge & Badgery for the respondent

1. McMURDO P:  I agree with Jerrard JA.

1. JERRARD JA:  In this matter leave was granted, should leave have been necessary, to appeal against orders made in the District Court in Brisbane on 17 November 2006, striking out the claim by the appellant plaintiff Mr Hall against the defendant company for want of prosecutions; and further ordering that the plaintiff pay the defendant’s costs on the scale applicable where the quantum exceeds $50,000.  The notice of appeal dated 15 December 2006 claims that the learned judge striking out the plaintiff’s claim erred in holding that the WorkCoverQueensland Act 1996 (Qld) (“the Queensland Act”) applied to the plaintiff’s proceedings, and that as a result the learned judge erred in applying the various factors referred to in this Court’s judgment in Tyler v Custom Credit Corp Ltd & Ors [2000] QCA 178. The court gave leave to the appellant to amend his grounds of appeal, in accordance with a notice filed 4 May 2007, to make the general allegation that the learned judge erred in taking into account irrelevant considerations, and in failing to consider all relevant ones. The appellant seeks orders setting aside the order striking out his proceedings, being claim No 1 of…