Plaintiff M52-2005 v MIMIA & Anor

[2005] HCATrans 767

[2005] HCATrans 767

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry
  Melbourne  No M52 of 2005

B e t w e e n -

PLAINTIFF M52 OF 2005

Plaintiff

and

MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AND INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

First Defendant

KIM BOYD OF THE REFUGEE REVIEW TRIBUNAL

Second Defendant

Summons

HAYNE J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT MELBOURNE ON THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2005, AT 9.34 AM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

MR E.J.C. HEEREY:   Your Honour, I appear for the first defendant.  (instructed by Clayton Utz)

HIS HONOUR:   Yes, Mr Heerey.

MR HEEREY:   In this case, there have been proposed minutes of consent orders which have been signed by the plaintiff and faxed to my instructors.  We do not have a copy of the originally signed orders by the plaintiff.

HIS HONOUR:   And this is the matter, is it not, where the applicant filed a notice of discontinuance ‑ ‑ ‑

MR HEEREY:   By letter.

HIS HONOUR:   Yes, it is a notice of discontinuance to which there is no consent attached.  It seemed to me that a way of dealing with it, Mr Heerey, is to give the plaintiff leave to discontinue, order that the notice of discontinuance that has been filed should stand as the notice of discontinuance.  The consequences as to costs that would follow would follow according to the rules so your side would get its costs and I think that that would probably achieve what needs to be achieved, would it not?

MR HEEREY:   Yes.  The convenience of the consent orders, from our point of view, of course, was fixing the costs.

HIS HONOUR:   Yes, I understand that.  I feel reluctant to act on the consent when all we have is a document that is faxed from the West Riverina Library in Griffith.  I understand what you say about the convenience but what I will do is order: 

1.        Grant leave to the plaintiff to discontinue the proceeding.

2.        Order that the notice of discontinuance filed 15 September 2005 stand as the plaintiff’s notice of discontinuance. 

I will make no further order as to costs.  It is enough if I simply notice that the consequences as to costs are prescribed by the Rules and that the plaintiff will bear them. 

MR HEEREY:   As the Court pleases.

AT 9.34 AM THE MATTER WAS CONCLUDED