Hejiz& Hejiz

The parties in this matter were a husband and wife, and the dispute concerned an application to strike out certain paragraphs of the wife's trial affidavit. The application was heard by Foster J in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether paragraphs 113, 120, and 135 of the wife's trial affidavit contained inadmissible material, specifically allegations of fraud and dishonesty that were not sufficiently particularised or supported by evidence. The Court was required to determine if these paragraphs were an abuse of process or otherwise improper.

Foster J reasoned that the allegations of fraud and dishonesty within the impugned paragraphs were vague and lacked the necessary particularity required for such serious claims. His Honour applied the principles that allegations of fraud must be pleaded with a high degree of specificity, and that affidavits should not be used to make unsubstantiated accusations. The Court found that the paragraphs in question did not meet this standard and were therefore an abuse of process.

Consequently, the Court ordered that paragraphs 113, 120, and 135 of the wife’s trial affidavit, filed on 15 September 2017, be struck out.