Hammond v Heath & Anor

Hammond (the applicant) sought to appeal a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, which had dismissed his application for judicial review of a decision made by the respondent, Heath, in his capacity as the Registrar of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The dispute concerned the Registrar's refusal to register a company name proposed by the applicant.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the Registrar's decision to refuse registration of the company name was affected by an error of law, specifically whether the Registrar had failed to take into account relevant considerations or had taken into account irrelevant considerations when making that decision. This involved an examination of the scope of the Registrar's discretion under the relevant provisions of the *Corporations Act 2001* (Cth) and the *ASIC Act 2001* (Cth).

The High Court held that the Registrar's decision was not vitiated by an error of law. Their Honours found that the Registrar had properly considered the relevant criteria for registration, including the potential for the name to be misleading or deceptive, and had not been influenced by irrelevant factors. The Court affirmed that the Registrar's role involved a degree of judgment and discretion, and that the applicant had not demonstrated that this discretion had been exercised unlawfully. The appeal was therefore dismissed.