The Registrar of the Supreme Court of Queensland v Wood (No 2)

The Registrar of the Supreme Court of Queensland brought an application against Mr Wood, seeking to punish him for contempt committed in the face of the court. Mr Wood applied for orders to set aside, permanently stay, strike out, or declare the originating application improperly started, or for summary judgment to be given, on the basis that there were no real prospects of the application succeeding. The court was required to determine whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to hear the Registrar's application and whether Mr Wood's application could be dismissed on the basis that there were no real prospects of success.

The court found that Mr Wood's application to strike out or permanently stay the proceeding placed a heavy burden on him, and the court must only grant such relief in the clearest of cases, akin to summary judgment. The court must be satisfied that there are no real prospects of a claim succeeding. The court also found that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to hear the Registrar's application as it is a superior court of record and is constituted as having unlimited jurisdiction. It is part of the court's inherent jurisdiction to punish a contemnor for contempt of court. The court further found that the procedure by way of prosecution on indictment is obsolete and that proceedings for contempt should be brought invoking the Court’s summary procedure to punish contained in Chapter 20, Part 7 of the UCPR.

The application was dismissed.

ORDERS:
The application is dismissed.