Horley v Hastings Deering (Qld) Pty Ltd

Case [1990] FCA 625


JUDGMENT No. /.9.0-.,
RAL COURT OF A U S T U 1
=ER& DIVISION 1
ICT OF THE SOU-) QN 654 of 1990
OF THE W E OF - )

RE :

EX PARTE: THE ABOVENAMED

(Applicant)

SLANDl PTY. LTD.

(Respondent)

S OF ORDER

PINCUS J.

18 OCTOBER 1990

WHGRE:  BRISBANE

1.   The matter be adjourned for further hearing on Monday 26 November 1990 at 9.15 a.m.

2.    The costs of and incidental to today be costs in the proceedings.

Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Rule
124 of the Bankruptcy Rules.
JN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUS- 1
- 1
PTCY DISTRICT OF THE SOUTHERN 1 QN 654 of 1990
E OF 0 - 1
RE:  DNNOR JAMES HORLEY

EX PARTE: XW ABOVEN&S!2

(Applicant)

RING lQIlEENSLANDI PTY. LTD.

(Respondent)

a:  PINCUS J.
M:  BRISBANE

m: 18 OCTOBER 1990

ONS FOR JUD-

This is a bankruptcy matter and I am giving the reasons of the Court orally because the hour is late. The reasons will be typed up and I will direct that a copy of them be sent to the parties, i.e. to Mr. Young appearing for Hastings Deering, and to Mr. Horley. I would ask my associate to make sure he has Mr. Horley's correct address.

The application which Mr. Horley makes is for an

order "that the judgment granted by Judge Daly on Wednesday 23
August 1990 at the District Court, Cairns, be set aside".
I am quoting from the application. There is some difference
of view as to when his Honour, in fact, gave judgment, and
indeed the form of judgment which is on the Court file is
drawn as if the judgment were granted by the Registrar. (It
is, in fact, dated 25 August, not 23 August.)

It appears that what happened was that there was

some misunderstanding between the Registrar, W . Bingham, and

W. Horley. . Bingham has helpfully written a letter which

sets out his recollection of events. There does not seem to be any doubt that Mr. Horley wished to have a trial, and because he was under the impression that the matter would either be adjourned or he would be notified, there was no trial because he did not attend. The circumstances are such that Mr. Young has very fairly said that perhaps there was some difficulty, and it seems to me unlikely that the Court could make Mr. Horley bankrupt in these circumstances. That is, when he, through some misunderstanding, and apparently not through his fault, missed out on a trial.

The course which the Court could take would be to set aside the bankruptcy notice and I had considered doing that. In the circumstances, however, I propose to adjourn this application because it is possible that the matter could be more appropriately dealt with by the parties agreeing to

the setting aside of the District Court's judgment, and agreeing to a trial in the District Court. That is the Court

which properly has jurisdiction in the matter. Mr. Young has not committed himself to the course of agreeing to the judgment's being set aside, but it would seem to me, in the circumstances, that it might be a proper course for his client to consider. If in the result, the judgment is not set aside in the District Court, then it will be necessary to consider

the matter further in this Court, and for that purpose I propose to adjourn it for further hearing before me on Monday, 26 November, at 9.15 am. The costs of today will be costs in the proceedings.

I certify that this and the two preceding pages are a true copy of the reasons for judgment herein of his Honour Mr. Justice Pincus.

c- ~ s s o c i a t 5
Date /K && 4 0
Details
AGLC
Horley v Hastings Deering (Qld) Pty Ltd [1990] FCA 625
Case
[1990] FCA 625
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of Horley v Hastings Deering (Qld) Pty Ltd, the applicant, James Horley, sought an order to set aside a judgment granted against him by the District Court of Queensland. The judgment was issued in a bankruptcy proceeding brought by Hastings Deering (Qld) Pty Ltd, the respondent. The Federal Court of Australia was asked to review and potentially overturn the District Court's decision.

The central legal issue before the Federal Court was whether the District Court had the jurisdiction to enter a default judgment against Horley when he was not properly notified of the trial date due to a misunderstanding between Horley and the Registrar, W. Bingham. The court had to determine if the circumstances warranted setting aside the judgment and if Horley's failure to attend the trial was due to factors beyond his control.

The Federal Court, presided over by Pincus J, found that there was indeed a misunderstanding that led to Horley missing the trial, and this was not due to his fault. The court considered that it would be inappropriate to declare Horley bankrupt without a proper trial. Although the court contemplated setting aside the bankruptcy notice, it decided to adjourn the application to allow the parties to negotiate a resolution. The court believed that if the parties could agree to set aside the District Court's judgment and reschedule a trial, it would be more appropriate for that matter to be handled by the District Court. The Federal Court would only need to intervene if the District Court did not set aside the judgment. Therefore, the application was adjourned for further hearing on a specified date.

The final orders of the court included the adjournment of the application for further hearing and the determination that the costs of the hearing would be costs in the proceedings.

Orders

Orders of the court

Full text does not contain this section.

Background

Background to the litigation

Full text does not contain this section.

Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

Full text does not contain this section.

Decision

Reasons for decision

Full text does not contain this section.

Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

Full text does not contain this section.