Porter, the Trustee of the Property of Thanh Huyen Tran, a Bankrupt v Nguyen

The applicant, Porter, as the trustee of the property of a bankrupt, Thanh Huyen Tran, sought an order from the Federal Court of Australia for the appointment of trustees for sale of land located in New South Wales, which was part-owned by the bankrupt. The respondent was Nguyen. The core of the dispute concerned the court's jurisdiction to make such an appointment under a New South Wales Act, specifically whether that State Act was incorporated into federal law by section 79 of the *Judiciary Act 1903* (Cth).

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the *Conveyancing Act 1919* (NSW), in particular its provisions relating to the appointment of trustees for sale of land, applied to the bankruptcy proceedings in the Federal Court. This involved determining whether section 79 of the *Judiciary Act 1903* (Cth) effectively "picked up" the relevant provisions of the New South Wales Act, thereby conferring jurisdiction on the Federal Court to make the orders sought. A secondary issue related to the application for leave to effect service of documents outside Australia, given that Vietnam was a party to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters.

Judge Cameron considered the operation of section 79 of the *Judiciary Act 1903* (Cth), which mandates that the federal courts shall apply the laws of the State in which they are held in civil matters where the laws of the Commonwealth are not applicable. His Honour found that the New South Wales Act, in its relevant aspects concerning the appointment of trustees for sale, was indeed picked up by section 79. This meant the Federal Court had the power to make the orders sought under the State legislation. Regarding service, the Court noted the requirements of the Hague Convention and the considerations for granting leave for service abroad.

The Court made orders granting leave to serve the application and supporting documents on the respondent outside Australia.