R J King v Stelmag Pty Ltd

The Full Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria heard an appeal concerning a dispute over royalty payments under a contract. The appellant, R J King, sought to overturn a decision of a trial judge who had found the appellant personally liable for the respondent company, Stelmag Pty Ltd's, failure to pay royalties.

The central legal issues before the Full Court were whether Stelmag Pty Ltd had repudiated its contractual obligation to pay royalties, and whether the trial judge had erred in holding Mr. King personally liable for the company's breach of contract.

The Full Court allowed the appeal, finding that the trial judge had erred in imposing personal liability on Mr. King. The Court's reasoning, though not detailed in the provided text, would have involved an analysis of the contractual terms and the principles of corporate law regarding the separate legal personality of a company and the circumstances in which a shareholder might be held personally liable for a company's debts. The Court concluded that the appellant was not personally liable for the company's failure to pay royalties.