Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council - [2013] FCA 606

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council [2013] FCA 606

Citation: Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council [2013] FCA 606

Parties: IVAN JERAY v BLUE MOUNTAINS CITY COUNCIL

File number: NSD 968 of 2013

Judge: JAGOT J

Date of judgment: 13 June 2013

Catchwords: APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – bankruptcy – leave to appeal – whether sufficient doubt – whether substantial injustice

Legislation: Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 (Cth)

Cases cited: Décor Corporation Pty Ltd v Dart Industries Inc [1991] 104 ALR 621
Diver v Neal [2009] NSWCA 115
Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council [2013] FCCA 297
Wentworth v Woollahra Municipal Council (1982) 149 CLR 672; [1982] HCA 41

Date of hearing: 13 June 2013

Place: Sydney

Division: GENERAL DIVISION

Category: Catchwords

Number of paragraphs: 16

Counsel for the Applicant: Mr Jeray appeared in person

Solicitor for the Respondent: G Butterfield

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY

GENERAL DIVISION

NSD 968 of 2013

BETWEEN:
IVAN JERAY
Applicant

AND:
BLUE MOUNTAINS CITY COUNCIL
Respondent

JUDGE:

JAGOT J

DATE OF ORDER:

13 JUNE 2013

WHERE MADE:

SYDNEY

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
1.The application for leave to appeal filed 30 May 2013 be dismissed.
2.The applicant pay the respondent costs of the application for leave to appeal as agreed or taxed.

Note:Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES DISTRICT REGISTRY

GENERAL DIVISION

NSD 968 of 2013

BETWEEN:
IVAN JERAY
Applicant

AND:
BLUE MOUNTAINS CITY COUNCIL
Respondent

JUDGE:

JAGOT J

DATE:

13 JUNE 2013

PLACE:

SYDNEY

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

This is an application for leave to appeal which was filed on 30 May 2013. The application is for leave to appeal from orders made by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia on 16 May 2013 in the matter of Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council [2013] FCCA 297. The Federal Circuit Court on 16 May 2013 made the following orders:
(1)The application in a case filed on 1 May 2013 is dismissed.
(2)The applicant pay the respondent’s costs and disbursements of and incidental to the application in a case filed on 1 May 2013.
In the reasons for judgment published on the same day, the Federal Circuit Court at [1] outlined the orders sought by the applicant before it. Amongst other things, the application sought that orders made by Registrar Wall on 13 November 2012 be set aside, that bankruptcy notice BN 5792 be set aside and that a declaration be made that the respondent and its legal representatives have abused the legal system by applying for BN5792 that was intentionally based on an invalid judgment, which was then issued and served on the applicant.
The balance of the reasons for judgment explains the somewhat unusual circumstances in which this application was made to the Federal Circuit Court. In short, the respondent, the Blue Mountains City Council (the Council), had taken out a bankruptcy…

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: [2013] FCA 606
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

This case involves an application for leave to appeal by Ivan Jeray against Blue Mountains City Council. The application was made to the Federal Court of Australia and sought to appeal from orders made by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia on 16 May 2013 in Jeray v Blue Mountains City Council [2013] FCCA 297. The Federal Circuit Court had dismissed an application by Mr Jeray seeking, amongst other things, that orders made by Registrar Wall on 13 November 2012 be set aside, that a bankruptcy notice be set aside and that a declaration be made that the Council and its legal representatives had abused the legal system by applying for a bankruptcy notice that was intentionally based on an invalid judgment, which was then issued and served on the applicant. The legal issues in this case were whether there was sufficient doubt about the decision of the Federal Circuit Court so as to warrant its reconsideration and whether substantial injustice would result if leave were refused, supposing the decision of the Federal Circuit Court to be wrong. The court found that there was no sufficient doubt about the correctness of the decision reached by the Federal Circuit Court, which was that the circumstances strongly spoke against any reopening of the orders that Registrar Wall had made on 13 November 2012. The court also found that there was no substantial injustice if leave were refused, supposing the decision of the Federal Circuit Court to be wrong. The court dismissed the application for leave to appeal.

The final orders of the court were: (1) The application for leave to appeal filed 30 May 2013 be dismissed. (2) The applicant pay the respondent costs of the application for leave to appeal as agreed or taxed.

Orders