McMullin v ICI Australia Operations Pty Ltd

The case of McMullin v ICI Australia Operations Pty Ltd dealt with an application to reopen the determination of categories of persons to whom ICI Australia owed a duty not to cause pure economic loss. The matter was before the court as part of a larger dispute concerning negligence claims and was subject to a High Court decision in Perre v Apand Pty Ltd, which was referred to in the original judgment. The applicants sought to amend the categories of claimants entitled to recover damages in negligence in light of the High Court’s decision in Perre, which they believed indicated that the original determination was unduly narrow.

The legal issues the court was required to decide included whether the High Court decision in Perre v Apand Pty Ltd established that the previous determination of the categories of claimants was erroneous, and if so, whether the court should reopen the issue of proximity. The court also had to consider the appropriate circumstances under which it should allow the reopening of such an issue, particularly in light of the fact that most of the cross claims had already settled, and the High Court's decision was not directly related to the specifics of this case.

In ruling on the application, the court found that the High Court decision in Perre did not demonstrate that the previous conclusion regarding the categories of claimants was incorrect. The court concluded that it was inappropriate to resolve the issue of reopening the categories at a directions hearing, and that the matter had already been adequately addressed in the original judgment. The court therefore refused the application to reopen the issue of the categories of persons to whom the respondents owed a common law duty of care. The applicants were ordered to pay the respondents' costs in relation to the application, with certain limitations.