Hughes & Hughes

In *Hughes & Hughes*, the wife sought an injunction to restrain the husband from continuing foreign legal proceedings. The dispute concerned the appropriate forum for resolving matters arising from the parties' marital relationship, with the wife contending that Australian proceedings were the proper venue. The matter came before Macmillan J of the Family Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether to grant an interlocutory injunction restraining the husband from pursuing proceedings he had commenced in Croatia. This required the court to consider the principles governing the grant of such injunctions, particularly in the context of international litigation and the potential for vexatious or oppressive conduct.

Macmillan J reasoned that the wife had established a strong prima facie case for the injunction. The court applied the principles established in cases such as *Voth v Manildra Flour Mills Pty Ltd* and *CSR Ltd v Cigna Insurance Australia Ltd*, which outline the circumstances in which Australian courts may restrain foreign proceedings. His Honour found that the Croatian proceedings were likely to be vexatious and oppressive, and that Australia was the clearly inappropriate forum for the dispute.

Consequently, Macmillan J ordered that the husband be restrained from taking any further steps in the Croatian legal proceedings until further order. The wife's application and the husband's response were otherwise adjourned for further hearing.