Titan Enterprises (Qld) Pty Ltd v Cross

In the matter of Titan Enterprises (Qld) Pty Ltd versus Cross, the Federal Court was asked to decide whether it should issue international subpoenas to two foreign corporations, one based in the United States and the other in Singapore. The application was made by Titan Enterprises, seeking to compel the production of documents from the corporations in question as part of the litigation. The case arose from an earlier decision in which the Court had found that Titan Enterprises had contravened Australian consumer law.

The primary legal issue the Court had to address was whether it should exercise its discretion to issue the subpoenas, given the potential for breach of international law or international comity. The Court considered whether the applicants had made appropriate attempts to communicate with the proposed recipients of the subpoenas. In this instance, only three days before the application, Titan Enterprises had emailed one of the corporations to inform it of the intended subpoena. However, no response had been received, which was a significant factor in the Court’s decision.

The Court concluded that, in light of the absence of communication with the proposed recipients, it should not exercise its discretion to issue the subpoenas. The Court noted that the issuance of subpoenas with the force of a sovereign state to entities or persons in other states should not be done lightly. It emphasised the importance of evidence of communication, or substantial attempts at communication, with the proposed recipients. The Court also highlighted other concerns about the content and purpose of the proposed subpoenas but did not differentiate between issues of power and discretion. The Court decided to adjourn the application administratively and reserved the matter of costs.