Rojo Building Pty. Limited v. Jillcris Pty. Limited

Rojo Building Pty. Limited (Rojo) appealed from decisions of Einstein J and McDougall J in proceedings against Jillcris Pty. Limited (Jillcris). The appeal concerned interlocutory decisions made by the judges below.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the interlocutory decisions of Einstein J and McDougall J gave rise to an estoppel. This question arose in circumstances where there had been no specific order for the determination of a separate question, nor any indication that a separate question had been finally determined by the lower courts.

The Court of Appeal determined that the interlocutory decisions did not give rise to an estoppel. The reasoning focused on the absence of a formal determination of a separate question, which is a prerequisite for such an estoppel to arise. Consequently, the appeal from Einstein J was dismissed, while the appeal from McDougall J was allowed. Rojo was ordered to pay the costs of the appeal, with the costs before McDougall J to be costs in the proceedings. The matter was remitted to the Equity Division for hearing.