Shaw v Buljan

In the case of Shaw v Buljan, the applicant, Mr. Shaw, sought judicial review of a decision made by a Deputy Registrar of the Federal Court of Australia. The Deputy Registrar had refused to accept an interlocutory application for filing, which sought orders to restrain the respondents' solicitors from acting on their behalf in an appeal proceeding. Mr. Shaw argued that the refusal to accept the application for filing was an error of law, as the Deputy Registrar had failed to comply with the obligation to give reasons, had breached the rules of natural justice, and had taken into account irrelevant considerations. Additionally, Mr. Shaw contended that the Deputy Registrar had failed to identify the utility in the relief sought.

The primary legal issues in this case were whether the Deputy Registrar complied with the obligation to give reasons, whether the Deputy Registrar complied with the rules of natural justice, whether the Deputy Registrar took into account irrelevant considerations, and whether the Deputy Registrar failed to identify the utility in the relief sought. The Court found that the Deputy Registrar had not erred in the manner alleged by Mr. Shaw, as the reasons provided by the Deputy Registrar were to be read beneficially and without an eye attuned to the perception of error. The Court also found that the Deputy Registrar had not failed to recognise the existence of the Court's jurisdiction to restrain a solicitor from acting for a party in proceedings before it.

The Court allowed the application for judicial review, ordering that the Deputy Registrar accept for filing the interlocutory application and the supporting affidavit submitted by Mr. Shaw on 12 May 2016. The Court found that the Deputy Registrar's reasons were to be read as proceeding upon an assumption that the Court may, in an appropriate case, restrain a solicitor from acting or continuing to act in a proceeding before it. The Court also rejected Mr. Shaw's contention that the Deputy Registrar failed to take into account the content of the proposed supporting affidavit submitted for filing with the proposed interlocutory application.