Jorgensen v Jorgensen - [2016] QSC 235

SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

Jorgensen v Jorgensen & Anor [2016] QSC 235

PARTIES:

BRIAN JORGENSEN

(applicant)

v
TRUDY JORGENSEN

(first respondent)

TEKSID PTY LTD ACN 004 359 979

(second respondent)

FILE NO/S:

SC No 342 of 2016

DIVISION:

Trial

PROCEEDING:

Application

ORIGINATING COURT:

Supreme Court at Cairns

DELIVERED EX TEMPORE ON:

30 September 2016

DELIVERED AT:

Cairns

HEARING DATE:

30 September 2016

JUDGE:

Henry J

ORDER:

The order of the court is that –

1. pursuant to s 25(1) of the Civil Proceedings Act 2011, proceeding D180/2016 in the Townsville Registry of the District Court of Queensland is transferred to the Cairns Registry of the Supreme Court of Queensland;

2.   proceedings D180/2016 is permanently stayed;

3.   Trudy Jorgensen shall not, without leave of the court institute or cause to be instituted any proceedings with respect to, connected with or arising out of the Rainbow Motor Inn Unit Trust; and

4.   the Respondents pay the Applicants costs of this application and of proceeding D180/2016 to be assessed on the standard basis.

CATCHWORDS:

PROCEDURE – STATE AND TERRITORY COURTS: JURISDICTION, POWERS AND GENERALLY – INHERENT AND GENERAL STATUTORY POWERS – TO PREVENT ABUSE OF PROCESS – GENERALLY – where the applicant seeks orders, pursuant to s 25(1) of the Civil Proceedings Act 2011, to have proceedings transferred from the Townsville Registry of the District Court of Queensland to the Cairns Registry of the Supreme Court of Queensland – where the applicant seeks, by an exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court to prevent an abuse of process, to have the transferred proceedings dismissed or permanently stayed – whether it is an appropriate case for the Court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to prevent an abuse of process

PROCEDURE – STATE AND TERRITORY COURTS: JURISDICTION, POWERS AND GENERALLY – VEXATIOUS LITIGANTS, PROCEEDINGS AND RELATED MATTERS – VEXATIOUS PROCEEDINGS –
where the applicant seeks, by an exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court to prevent an abuse of process, to have the proceedings commenced by the respondents in Townsville be dismissed or permanently stayed – where the first respondent is the daughter of a person subject to an order pursuant to the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld) and has evinced an intention to seek to abuse court processes – where the second respondent is an entity controlled by first respondent’s father, a person subject to an order pursuant to the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld) – whether it is an appropriate case for the Court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to prevent an abuse of process – whether the transferred Townsville proceedings should be dismissed or permanently stayed

Civil Proceedings Act 2011 (Qld), s 25
Trusts Act 1973 (Qld), s 8
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), r 304
Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld)

Jorgensen v Jorgensen & Ors [2016] QSC 193
Lidden v Composite Buyers (1996) 67 FCR 560
Mantonella Pty Ltd v Grancroft Pty Ltd & Ors [2015] QSC 191
Von Risefer v Permanent Trustee Company Ltd (2005) 1…

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.

Continue reading Jorgensen v Jorgensen

Details

AGLC: Jorgensen v Jorgensen [2016] QSC 235
Case: [2016] QSC 235
Decision Date: 30 September 2016

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Jorgensen v Jorgensen involves a dispute over the transfer of proceedings from the Townsville Registry of the District Court of Queensland to the Cairns Registry of the Supreme Court of Queensland. The case was brought by Trudy Jorgensen against her daughter and her father's entity, both of whom were subject to orders under the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld). The central legal issues were whether the court had the jurisdiction to prevent an abuse of process and whether it was appropriate to exercise this jurisdiction to dismiss or permanently stay the proceedings initiated by the respondents.

The court considered the inherent jurisdiction to prevent an abuse of process, particularly in light of the respondents' history and intentions. It concluded that the application was appropriate and that the proceedings should be permanently stayed. The court found that Trudy Jorgensen's daughter had shown an intention to abuse court processes, and the entity controlled by her father was similarly involved in vexatious litigation. The court's reasoning focused on the need to protect the judicial process from misuse and to prevent the ongoing harassment and expense caused by the respondents' actions.

The court ordered the transfer of the proceedings to the Cairns Registry of the Supreme Court of Queensland and imposed a permanent stay on the proceedings. Additionally, Trudy Jorgensen was restrained from initiating any further proceedings related to the Rainbow Motor Inn Unit Trust without the court's permission. The respondents were also ordered to pay the applicants' costs of the application and the original proceedings.

Orders

Orders of the court

The order of the court is that –

1. pursuant to s 25(1) of the Civil Proceedings Act 2011, proceeding D180/2016 in the Townsville Registry of the District Court of Queensland is transferred to the Cairns Registry of the Supreme Court of Queensland;

2. proceedings D180/2016 is permanently stayed;

3. Trudy Jorgensen shall not, without leave of the court institute or cause to be instituted any proceedings with respect to, connected with or arising out of the Rainbow Motor Inn Unit Trust; and

4. the Respondents pay the Applicants costs of this application and of proceeding D180/2016 to be assessed on the standard basis.

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

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

Full text does not contain this section.

CITATION:	Jorgensen v Jorgensen & Anor [2016] QSC 235
PARTIES:	BRIAN JORGENSEN (applicant) v TRUDY JORGENSEN (first respondent) TEKSID PTY LTD ACN 004 359 979 (second respondent)
FILE NO/S:	SC No 342 of 2016
DIVISION:	Trial
PROCEEDING:	Application
ORIGINATING COURT:	Supreme Court at Cairns
DELIVERED EX TEMPORE ON:	30 September 2016
DELIVERED AT:	Cairns
HEARING DATE:	30 September 2016
JUDGE:	Henry J
ORDER:	The order of the court is that – 1. pursuant to s 25(1) of the *Civil Proceedings Act* 2011, proceeding D180/2016 in the Townsville Registry of the District Court of Queensland is transferred to the Cairns Registry of the Supreme Court of Queensland; 2. proceedings D180/2016 is permanently stayed; 3. Trudy Jorgensen shall not, without leave of the court institute or cause to be instituted any proceedings with respect to, connected with or arising out of the Rainbow Motor Inn Unit Trust; and 4. the Respondents pay the Applicants costs of this application and of proceeding D180/2016 to be assessed on the standard basis.
CATCHWORDS:	PROCEDURE – STATE AND TERRITORY COURTS: JURISDICTION, POWERS AND GENERALLY – INHERENT AND GENERAL STATUTORY POWERS – TO PREVENT ABUSE OF PROCESS – GENERALLY – where the applicant seeks orders, pursuant to s 25(1) of the Civil Proceedings Act 2011, to have proceedings transferred from the Townsville Registry of the District Court of Queensland to the Cairns Registry of the Supreme Court of Queensland – where the applicant seeks, by an exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court to prevent an abuse of process, to have the transferred proceedings dismissed or permanently stayed – whether it is an appropriate case for the Court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to prevent an abuse of process PROCEDURE – STATE AND TERRITORY COURTS: JURISDICTION, POWERS AND GENERALLY – VEXATIOUS LITIGANTS, PROCEEDINGS AND RELATED MATTERS – VEXATIOUS PROCEEDINGS – where the applicant seeks, by an exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court to prevent an abuse of process, to have the proceedings commenced by the respondents in Townsville be dismissed or permanently stayed – where the first respondent is the daughter of a person subject to an order pursuant to the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld) and has evinced an intention to seek to abuse court processes – where the second respondent is an entity controlled by first respondent’s father, a person subject to an order pursuant to the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld) – whether it is an appropriate case for the Court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to prevent an abuse of process – whether the transferred Townsville proceedings should be dismissed or permanently stayed Civil Proceedings Act 2011 (Qld), s 25 Trusts Act 1973 (Qld), s 8 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), r 304 Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005 (Qld) Jorgensen v Jorgensen & Ors [2016] QSC 193 Lidden v Composite Buyers (1996) 67 FCR 560 Mantonella Pty Ltd v Grancroft Pty Ltd & Ors [2015] QSC 191 Von Risefer v Permanent Trustee Company Ltd (2005) 1…