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High Court Bulletin

Produced by the Legal Research Officer,
High Court of Australia Library

[2017] HCAB 1 (15 February 2017)

A record of recent High Court of Australia cases: decided, reserved for judgment, awaiting hearing in the Court’s original jurisdiction, granted special leave to appeal, refused special leave to appeal and not proceeding or vacated

1: Summary of New Entries
2: Cases Handed Down
3: Cases Reserved
4: Original Jurisdiction
5: Special Leave Granted
6: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated
7: Special Leave Refused

1: Summary of New Entries

2: Cases Handed Down

Case	Title
Palmer v Marcus William Ayres, Stephen James Parbery and Michael Andrew Owen in their capacities as liquidators of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (in liq) & Ors; Ferguson v Marcus William Ayres, Stephen James Parbery and Michael Andrew Owen in their capacities as liquidators of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (in liq)	Constitutional Law
Re Culleton (No 2)	Court of Disputed Returns
Commissioner of State Revenue v ACN 005 057 349 Pty Ltd	Taxation
Western Australian Planning Commission v Leith; Western Australian Planning Commission v Southregal Pty Ltd & Anor	Town Planning

3: Cases Reserved

Case	Title
Rizeq v The State of Western Australia	Constitutional Law
Re Day	Court of Disputed Returns
Aubrey (MA) v The Queen	Criminal Law
Hughes v The Queen	Criminal Law
Kendirjian v Lepore & Anor	Negligence

4: Original Jurisdiction

5: Special Leave Granted

Case	Title
Chiro v The Queen	Criminal Law
Van Beelen v The Queen	Criminal Law
The Queen v Holliday	Criminal Law
State of New South Wales v DC & Anor	Negligence

6: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated

Case	Title
ResourceCo Material Solutions Pty Ltd & Anor v State of Victoria & Anor	Constitutional Law
Plaintiff A33/2016 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection	Migration

2: Cases Handed Down

The following cases were handed down by the High Court of Australia during the February 2017 sittings.

Constitutional Law

Palmer v Marcus William Ayres, Stephen James Parbery and Michael Andrew Owen in their capacities as liquidators of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (in liq) & Ors; Ferguson v Marcus William Ayres, Stephen James Parbery and Michael Andrew Owen in their capacities as liquidators of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (in liq)

B52/2016; B55/2016: [2017] HCA 5

Orders pronounced: 10 November 2016

Reasons published: 8 February 2017

Coram: Kiefel, Gageler, Keane, Nettle and Gordon JJ

Catchwords:

Constitutional law (Cth) – Judicial power – Mandatory examination of persons about corporation's examinable affairs – Where plaintiffs former directors of corporation in voluntary liquidation – Where liquidators applied for and obtained order for issue of summons under s 596A of Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) requiring plaintiffs to attend for examination about corporation's examinable affairs – Whether s 596A invalid as contrary to Ch III of Constitution – Whether s 596A gives rise to "matter" that engages judicial power of Commonwealth – Whether power conferred by s 596A incompatible with or outside judicial power of Commonwealth.
Words and phrases – "examinable affairs", "federal jurisdiction", "judicial power", "matter".
Constitution…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2017] HCAB 1
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicants in Palmer v Marcus William Ayres, Stephen James Parbery and Michael Andrew Owen in their capacities as liquidators of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (in liq) & Ors; Ferguson v Marcus William Ayres, Stephen James Parbery and Michael Andrew Owen in their capacities as liquidators of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (in liq) were directors of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (QNP) when it entered voluntary liquidation. The liquidators applied to the Federal Court for orders requiring the applicants to attend for examination about QNP's examinable affairs under s 596A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The applicants challenged the validity of s 596A, arguing that it was inconsistent with Ch III of the Constitution. The liquidators submitted that s 596A was a valid exercise of the Commonwealth's legislative power under s 51 of the Constitution. The High Court held that s 596A was valid and did not engage the judicial power of the Commonwealth. The Court also held that the power conferred by s 596A was compatible with the judicial power of the Commonwealth. In Re Culleton (No 2), the Court of Disputed Returns was asked to determine whether the annulment of a conviction of a person for an offence punishable by imprisonment for one year or more had retrospective effect. The Court held that the annulment did not have retrospective effect. The Court held that the person was incapable of being chosen as a Senator under s 44(ii) of the Constitution. The Court held that a vacancy should be filled by a special count of ballot papers. In Commissioner of State Revenue v ACN 005 057 349 Pty Ltd, the Victorian Commissioner of State Revenue issued land tax assessments which were paid by the respondent. After the error was detected, the Commissioner did not amend the assessments or refund the excess land tax. The respondent brought proceedings in the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the Commissioner was under a duty compellable by mandamus to amend and refund the excess land tax. The Supreme Court held that the Commissioner was under such a duty. The Commissioner appealed to the Court of Appeal which dismissed the appeal. The Commissioner appealed to the High Court. The High Court held that the Commissioner was under a duty compellable by mandamus to amend and refund the excess land tax. The Court held that the Commissioner's refusal to amend amounted to conscious maladministration. The Court held that the amended assessment had the effect that excess tax was never land tax. The Court held that the proceedings were barred under the Land Tax Act 1958 (Vic). In Western Australian Planning Commission v Southregal Pty Ltd & Anor; Western Australian Planning Commission v Leith, the Western Australian Planning Commission reserved land for public purposes under a planning scheme. The landowners purchased land affected by the planning scheme after the date of reservation. The purchasers applied to develop the land and were refused. The landowners brought proceedings in the Supreme Court seeking compensation under s 173 of the Planning and Development Act 2005 (WA). The Supreme Court held that the purchasers were not entitled to compensation. The purchasers appealed to the Court of Appeal which dismissed the appeal. The purchasers appealed to the High Court. The High Court held that the purchasers were entitled to compensation.

Orders