Statewide Secured Investments Pty Ltd v Cannon and Cipriani

This matter came before Judge Riethmuller in the County Court of Victoria. The debtors, Cannon and Cipriani, sought to "look behind" a County Court judgment previously entered against them. Their argument was predicated on comments made by the trial judge in the substantive judgment concerning the respective rights of the plaintiffs, Statewide Secured Investments Pty Ltd and Permanent Nominees Pty Ltd, as assignee or transferee of certain rights.

The central legal issue was whether the County Court judgment, which had been entered in favour of Statewide Secured Investments Pty Ltd, should be set aside or modified based on the debtors' contention that the debt had been assigned to Permanent Nominees Pty Ltd and that notice of this assignment had not been properly given to the debtors. The debtors relied on remarks made by the trial judge suggesting that judgment might have been more appropriately entered for Permanent Nominees Pty Ltd as the assignee of Statewide's rights.

Judge Riethmuller reasoned that the trial judge's comments regarding the assignment were made in the context of submissions about the form of the orders, rather than a determination of a disputed issue. Crucially, both plaintiffs, Statewide and Permanent, had proceeded on the basis that the Supreme Court judgment debt had not been assigned. The court found it inappropriate to adopt an alternative interpretation of the assignment clause that would subvert the parties' mutual intention, especially when they had acted upon their agreed understanding of the clause. The judge noted that if the parties' understanding differed from the written terms, rectification of the agreement would be an available, though likely unnecessary, course of action given their conduct.

The application by the debtors to look behind the County Court judgment was refused.