Kairouz v Jasper Nominees Limited

The applicant, Kairouz, applied for a stay of orders that required the payment of a judgment debt to the respondent, Jasper Nominees Limited. The application was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria. Kairouz sought the stay on the grounds that special or exceptional circumstances existed, which could render an appeal nugatory if the stay was not granted. The respondent had issued a bankruptcy notice to Kairouz, and if the stay was not granted, Kairouz’s bankruptcy was likely to eventuate.

The legal issues before the court were whether the special or exceptional circumstances existed to warrant a stay of the orders, and whether the risk of Kairouz’s appeal being rendered nugatory was sufficient to grant the stay. The court considered the likelihood of Kairouz’s bankruptcy and the effect of a sequestration order, which the court held constituted special circumstances. The court examined previous cases such as Cellante v G Kallis Industries Pty Ltd, Maher v Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Neate v Thoroughbred International Marketing Pty Ltd, Quick v Lam-ly Pty Ltd, Loftus v Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Li v Herald & Weekly Times Pty Ltd, Seifert v Chaudhary, and Hoser v Pelley [No 4], which were applied to determine the presence of special circumstances. Additionally, the court discussed cases such as McMahon v National Foods Milk Ltd and Narain v Euroasia (Pacific) Pty Ltd to further understand the criteria for granting a stay.

The court found that the likelihood of Kairouz’s bankruptcy and the effect of a sequestration order constituted special circumstances. The court granted the stay of the orders, noting the risk that the appeal could be rendered nugatory if the stay was not granted. The court concluded that granting the stay was necessary to prevent Kairouz’s appeal from becoming futile due to the impending bankruptcy.

The final order of the court was that the orders requiring Kairouz to pay the judgment debt were stayed until the determination of the appeal, or until further order of the court.