Mulroney & Mulroney - [2023] FedCFamC1A 102

FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA
(DIVISION 1) APPELLATE JURISDICTION
Mulroney & Mulroney [2023] FedCFamC1A 102

Appeal from: Mulroney & Mulroney [2023] FedCFamC2F 490

Appeal number: NAA 144 of 2023

File number: NCC 1111 of 2019

Judgment of: AUSTIN J

Date of judgment: 28 June 2023

Catchwords: FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PARENTING – Where the mother appeals from final parenting orders – Where the appellant is self-represented – Where the grounds of appeal do not expose any complaint of appealable error – Where the appeal enjoys no reasonable prospect of success in its current form – Where the appellant has 14 days within which to file an Amended Notice of Appeal in default of which the appeal is summarily dismissed – Orders made.

Legislation:
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Pt VII

Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth) ss 32, 46, 69

Number of paragraphs: 7

Date of hearing: 28 June 2023

Place: Newcastle via Microsoft Teams

The Appellant: Litigant in person

Solicitor for the Respondent: Conditsis Lawyers

Solicitor for the Independent Children's Lawyer: NLS Law
ORDERS

NAA 144 of 2023
NCC 1111 of 2019

FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA
DIVISION 1 APPELLATE JURISDICTION

BETWEEN:
MS MULRONEY

Appellant

AND:
MR MULRONEY

Respondent

INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S LAWYER

order made by:

AUSTIN J

DATE OF ORDER:

28 June 2023

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
1.If the appellant fails to file an Amended Notice of Appeal within 14 days, the appeal is summarily dismissed.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court’s records.
Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 10.14(b) Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 10.13 Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).
IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under a pseudonym Mulroney & Mulroney has been approved pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).
EX TEMPORE
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
AUSTIN J:

This appeal is brought by the appellant from parenting orders made between the parties by a judge of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2) under Pt VII of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”) on 28 April 2023.
Relevantly, the orders make provision for the respondent to have sole parental responsibility for the parties’ two children (Orders 2, 3 and 12), for the children to live with the respondent (Order 4), for the children to spend time with the appellant for several hours each week and on some special occasions at a public venue (Orders 5, 6, 7 and 8), for the children to communicate electronically with the appellant (Order 10), for the children to travel internationally with the respondent (Orders 20 and 21), and the appellant’s restraint from certain conduct (Orders 9, 19 and 22).…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Mulroney & Mulroney

Details

AGLC: Mulroney & Mulroney [2023] FedCFamC1A 102
Case: [2023] FedCFamC1A 102
Decision Date: 28 June 2023

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The appeal before the Family Court involved the mother, who was self-represented, challenging final parenting orders that were made in favour of the father. The primary issue at hand was whether the appeal grounds provided sufficient basis for challenging the decisions made by the primary judge. The mother’s appeal was considered in light of the stringent requirements for establishing appealable errors in family law matters.

The court examined whether the grounds of appeal articulated by the mother were sufficient to expose any appealable error. It was determined that the grounds did not meet the necessary standards, as they failed to identify any specific legal errors or procedural missteps that would warrant a review of the original decision. The court highlighted that an appeal must clearly articulate the errors to have any reasonable prospect of success. Here, the appeal was found to be devoid of any such articulated errors, rendering the appeal ineffective in its current form.

Consequently, the court ruled that the appeal had no reasonable prospect of success unless the appellant could amend the notice of appeal to include proper grounds. The mother was given a timeframe of 14 days to file an amended notice of appeal. In the absence of such an amendment, the court ordered that the appeal would be summarily dismissed. This decision underscored the importance of properly articulating appeal grounds to ensure the viability of the appeal process.

Orders

Orders of the court

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

1. If the appellant fails to file an Amended Notice of Appeal within 14 days, the appeal is summarily dismissed.

Background

Background to the litigation

Full text does not contain this section.

Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

Full text does not contain this section.

Decision

Reasons for decision

Full text does not contain this section.

Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

Full text does not contain this section.

NAA 144 of 2023 NCC 1111 of 2019
FEDERAL CIRCUIT AND FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA DIVISION 1 APPELLATE JURISDICTION
BETWEEN:	MS MULRONEY Appellant
AND:	MR MULRONEY Respondent
INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S LAWYER

Appeal from:	Mulroney & Mulroney [2023] FedCFamC2F 490
Appeal number:	NAA 144 of 2023
File number:	NCC 1111 of 2019
Judgment of:	AUSTIN J
Date of judgment:	28 June 2023
Catchwords:	FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – PARENTING – Where the mother appeals from final parenting orders – Where the appellant is self-represented – Where the grounds of appeal do not expose any complaint of appealable error – Where the appeal enjoys no reasonable prospect of success in its current form – Where the appellant has 14 days within which to file an Amended Notice of Appeal in default of which the appeal is summarily dismissed – Orders made.
Legislation:	Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) Pt VII Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Act 2021 (Cth) ss 32, 46, 69
Number of paragraphs:	7
Date of hearing:	28 June 2023
Place:	Newcastle via Microsoft Teams
The Appellant:	Litigant in person
Solicitor for the Respondent:	Conditsis Lawyers
Solicitor for the Independent Children's Lawyer:	NLS Law

order made by:	AUSTIN J
DATE OF ORDER:	28 June 2023