Page and Page

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

PAGE & PAGE [2016] FCCA 3126

Catchwords:
FAMILY LAW – Anti-suit injunction – respondent commenced proceedings in the United Kingdom – United Kingdom Court has issued a temporary stay – injunction listed for argument in United Kingdom Court next week – comity of courts.

Legislation:

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)

Cases cited:

Mokbel v Attorney-General for Commonwealth of Australia [2007] FCA 1536

CSR Limited v Cigna Insurance Australia Limited (1997) 189 CLR 345
Henry v Henry (1996) 185 CLR 571

Applicant: MR PAGE

Respondent: MS PAGE

File Number: DGC 794 of 2015

Judgment of: Judge Harland

Hearing date: 23 November 2016

Date of Last Submission: 23 November 2016

Delivered at: Dandenong

Delivered on: 23 November 2016

REPRESENTATION

The Applicant: In person

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr Marchetti

Solicitors for the Respondent: Nicholes Family Lawyers

ORDERS

1. The proceedings be stayed until further order.

NOTING

1. The parties provide a copy of the orders or judgment from the United Kingdom proceedings to the Chambers of Judge Harland at [e-mail].

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment under the pseudonym Page & Page is approved pursuant to s.121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT
OF AUSTRALIA
AT DANDENONG

DGC 794 of 2015

MR PAGE

Applicant

And

MS PAGE

Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

1. These reasons for judgment were delivered orally.  They have been corrected from the transcript.  Grammatical errors have been corrected and an attempt has been made to render the orally delivered reasons amenable to being read.

2. This is the first return date of the applicant’s application for property and other financial relief.  There is also an application for divorce which has a return date of 13 March 2017.  There were proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia in 2015 with respect to children.  The children live with the husband here; the wife lives in the United Kingdom (“UK”).  The proceedings between the parties began after the mother took the children to the UK. The father successfully made an application for the children to be returned to the proceedings pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects on International Child Abduction.  The wife has filed proceedings in the UK for divorce and ancillary proceedings seeking property and financial relief.  I note that it is not possible under the UK law to file for divorce separately from seeking property and other relief.  They are referred to as ancillary relief in that jurisdiction.

3. I also note that the wife did have property proceedings on foot in the proceedings in Australia but was given leave to withdraw those proceedings when final parenting orders were made in the Family Court of Australia in 2015.  The wife commenced her proceedings in the UK in April 2016. The husband does not dispute this.  What he does dispute is the issue of service with respect to those proceedings.  There is a dispute between the parties as to whether or not they were avoiding service of the other parties competing…