Pichard & Pichard

The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 1) was asked to determine whether the Court had accrued jurisdiction to hear a tort claim for personal injuries that was sought to be joined to existing property settlement proceedings between the parties. The respondent argued that the Court’s accrued jurisdiction extended to include the tort claim, given that the Court already had jurisdiction over the property settlement proceedings. The applicant opposed the claim, arguing that the Court’s jurisdiction did not extend to tort claims, which are within state jurisdiction, and that it would not be appropriate to join the claim to these proceedings.

The Court was required to determine whether the tort claim for personal injuries was within the Court's accrued jurisdiction. The Court noted that accrued jurisdiction arises when it is necessary or desirable to deal with all issues that arise in a judicable controversy in one proceeding, and that the limits of accrued jurisdiction are set by reference to the “matter” in the sense that that term is used in sections 75 and 76 of the Australian Constitution. The Court found that the tort claim was not within the Court's accrued jurisdiction, as the claim was not an attached non-severable claim that arose out of a common substratum of facts with the property settlement proceedings. The Court held that the cross-vesting scheme did not confer state jurisdiction upon federal courts, and that the associated jurisdiction did not arise simply because the matter was closely associated with a matter within jurisdiction.

The Court refused the respondent’s application to join the tort claim for personal injuries against the applicant. The Court found that the tort claim was not within the Court's accrued jurisdiction and that it would not be appropriate to join the claim to the existing property settlement proceedings. The Court noted that the conduct that the respondent complained of, if proved, would found a strong arguable case for a Kennon style contribution consideration in the property settlement proceedings, but that this did not extend to the tort claim for personal injuries.

The Court ordered that the respondent's application to join a claim in tort for personal injuries against the applicant is refused. The form of the order is subject to the entry in the Court’s records, and may be subject to review or variation in accordance with the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 (Cth).