Murray and Kings

The matter before the court involved applications by the father, Mr. Murray, against the respondent, Ms. Kings, concerning alleged contraventions of court orders and contempt of court. The applications were initially filed on 13 April 2010 and 16 September 2010. The court was presided over by Faulks DCJ.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the respondent had contravened a court order by failing to ensure a telephone call between the father and the child lasted for approximately three to five minutes. Specifically, the court had to determine if a telephone call that lasted two minutes and four seconds constituted a breach of an order stipulating a duration of "approximately" three minutes. This also raised the question of the standard of proof required in proceedings for contravention of orders, which can carry significant consequences.

The court considered the legal maxim "de minimis non curat lex" (the law does not care about trivial matters) in relation to the 54-second shortfall. However, it also acknowledged the father's argument that rounding down the duration would result in a call significantly shorter than the minimum stipulated time. The court noted the complexity introduced by the word "approximately" in the order. Applying the principles of the *Evidence Act 1995* (Cth) and the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth), the court stated that while a prima facie case existed as the call did not last three minutes, it needed to be satisfied to a comfortable and confident standard of proof that two minutes and four seconds did not constitute "approximately" three minutes.

The court dismissed the applications concerning contravention of orders and contempt of court, removing the matter from the pending cases list. The court also directed that the child attend therapy and assessment with Ms. K as previously ordered, and that Ms. K provide a report to the court upon completion of this therapy and assessment.