Lan and Hao

In the matter of *Lan and Hao*, Justice Stevenson of the Family Court of Australia considered an application by the husband, Mr Hao, to dismiss the wife's application for security for costs. The dispute arose in the context of divorce proceedings where both parties held assets in Australia and China, and the husband had also commenced separate proceedings in the Haidian Civil Court in Beijing.

The court was required to determine whether to dismiss the husband's application for security for costs and whether to grant the wife's application to restrain the husband from continuing his proceedings in China. Central to these determinations was the question of which jurisdiction was the more appropriate forum for the resolution of property matters, considering the limitations of Chinese courts in recognising and enforcing Australian property orders.

Justice Stevenson reasoned that Chinese courts would not typically consider or partition overseas assets, including those in Australia, when dealing with divorce matters. Furthermore, due to the absence of a bilateral civil judicial mutual assistance agreement between China and Australia, Chinese courts could only recognise the dissolution of the marital relationship from an Australian judgment, not the property partition aspects. Conversely, Australian courts would consider all assets of both parties, whether located in Australia or China, when determining property division. The judge concluded that justice and equity were more likely to be achieved in the Australian forum where all assets could be taken into account, and therefore dismissed the husband's application for security for costs.

Consequently, Justice Stevenson ordered that the husband's application be dismissed. The court also ordered that Mr Hao be restrained from taking any further steps in the Chinese proceedings, other than to discontinue them, pending the final determination of all proceedings in Australia, including any appeals.