Re Amazon Pest Control Pty Ltd (No 2)

In the Federal Court of Australia, the case of Re Amazon Pest Control Pty Ltd (No 2) involved the applicant seeking to amend a judgment sum due to an arithmetic error. The original judgment had been entered against the defendant, Amazon Pest Control Pty Ltd, but the applicant discovered a miscalculation in the amount owed. The defendant subsequently entered into bankruptcy, which raised questions about the court's jurisdiction to amend the judgment sum post-bankruptcy. The legal issue centred on whether the court could apply the 'slip rule' to correct the sum owed by the defendant after the defendant had become bankrupt, and whether such an amendment would constitute a prohibited fresh step in the bankruptcy proceedings.

The court examined the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), specifically section 58(3), which restricts the ability to take certain steps in bankruptcy proceedings. The applicant argued that the amendment was not a fresh step but a correction of an obvious error. The court held that the slip rule could be applied to correct obvious errors in judgments, and that such a correction did not constitute a fresh step in bankruptcy proceedings. The court found that, because the original judgment was entered before the defendant's bankruptcy, the application to amend the judgment sum was permissible under the slip rule, and did not contravene the restrictions imposed by section 58(3) of the Bankruptcy Act.

The Federal Court of Australia allowed the application to reduce the judgment sum to correct the arithmetic error. The court's decision hinged on the distinction between an amendment that corrects an obvious error and one that introduces a new element into the proceedings. The court found that the amendment in this case was a correction of an obvious error, and not a fresh step that would be prohibited by the Bankruptcy Act. Consequently, the court exercised its jurisdiction under the slip rule to amend the judgment sum, notwithstanding the defendant's subsequent bankruptcy.