Kingston v Field

KINGSTON
v
FIELD
[2020] HCASL 230
S136/2020

The applicant seeks special leave to appeal against the judgment and orders of the Family Court of Australia (Ainslie‑Wallace J) given and made on 17 July 2020 dismissing the applicant's application to reinstate an appeal against orders of the Family Court (Foster J) made on 30 April 2020; which appeal was deemed to be abandoned under r 22.13(2) of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth) following the applicant's failure to file a draft appeal index within the prescribed time.
This application concerns a matter of practice which raises no question of principle that it would be in the interests of justice for this Court to consider. There is no reason to doubt the correctness of Ainslie-Wallace J's judgment. An appeal to this Court would enjoy no prospect of success.
Pursuant to r 41.08.1 of the High Court Rules2004 (Cth), we direct the Registrar to draw up, sign and seal an order dismissing the application.

G.A.A. Nettle M.M. Gordon

5 November 2020

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of Kingston v Field, the applicant sought special leave to appeal against the judgment and orders of the Family Court of Australia, which dismissed their application to reinstate an appeal. The original appeal was abandoned due to the applicant's failure to file a draft appeal index within the prescribed time. The High Court was asked to consider whether it would be in the interests of justice to review the Family Court's decision.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the appeal to the High Court would enjoy any prospect of success. Given that the Family Court's judgment appeared to be correct, the High Court needed to determine if there were any grounds for the appeal to proceed. The case raised a matter of practice, rather than principle, and the court had to weigh whether reviewing the matter would be beneficial in terms of justice.

The High Court found that there was no doubt about the correctness of the Family Court's judgment. Moreover, the appeal did not raise any questions of principle that would warrant further consideration. Consequently, the court concluded that an appeal to the High Court would enjoy no prospect of success. Therefore, the application for special leave to appeal was dismissed. The Registrar was directed to draw up, sign, and seal an order dismissing the application.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

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Background to the litigation

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Legal Principle Established