Metropolitan Petar v Mitreski

Metropolitan Petar and others sought to enforce certain obligations owed by trustees of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in Australia. The trustees were the respondents in the case which came before the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The court was asked to determine a range of questions pertaining to the governance and administration of the trust, including whether the income generated by church and parish activities was trust income, and whether certain provisions of church law were terms of the trust. The court was also asked to determine whether the resort to trust assets to fund the defence of proceedings brought against a trustee amounted to a breach of trust.

The court held that the income generated by the church and parish activities was trust income. It also held that certain provisions of church law were sufficiently fundamental to be terms of the trust. The court found that the resort to trust assets to fund the defence of proceedings against a trustee amounted to a breach of trust, but that the trustees ought fairly to be excused for the breach of trust. The court also held that the mere engagement in conduct causative of a breach of trust did not attract accessorial liability, and that a plaintiff's special interest in enforcing the trust did not prevent their claim from being an action on a cause of action in respect of a breach of trust.

The court made orders setting aside the proceedings brought against the trustee, and dismissed the claims of the plaintiffs. The court also made orders that the trustees of the church were to provide a written undertaking to the court of their future compliance with the trust, and that the plaintiffs were to pay the costs of the respondents.