The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Sydney v Hughes Bros Pty Ltd

The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Sydney (the Trustees) brought proceedings against Hughes Bros Pty Ltd (Hughes Bros) concerning a dispute over the construction of a church hall. The matter came before the New South Wales Court of Appeal.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the Trustees had validly exercised their right to terminate the building contract and, if not, whether Hughes Bros was entitled to damages for wrongful termination. The Court also considered the proper assessment of damages in the event of a wrongful termination.

The Court of Appeal found that the Trustees had not validly exercised their right to terminate the contract. It held that the notice of termination was defective because it did not specify the grounds for termination with sufficient particularity as required by the contract. Consequently, the termination was wrongful. The Court then proceeded to assess the damages payable to Hughes Bros, applying principles of contract law relating to the measure of damages for wrongful termination, which typically involves the loss of profit the contractor would have made had the contract been completed.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the Trustees' appeal and upheld the primary judge's finding of wrongful termination, ordering the Trustees to pay damages to Hughes Bros.