ZHENG & CHEUNG

This matter came before the Family Court of Australia concerning a dispute between Ms Zheng (the applicant) and Mr Cheung (the respondent) in a proceeding that had been referred to arbitration. The court was asked to make directions under section 13F of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) to facilitate the effective conduct of the arbitration, which had been experiencing difficulties and was part-heard.

The legal issues before the court included whether it was appropriate to make directions in a part-heard arbitration, particularly concerning the applicant's provision of documents to the respondent and the respondent's expert, the authentication and translation of foreign language documents, and the need for an amended initiating application given the applicant's concession that a constructive trust was no longer being pursued. The court also considered an objection to a subpoena issued by the respondent to the applicant.

The court reasoned that while it is generally preferable for an arbitrator to manage their own proceedings, the ongoing difficulties and lack of substantive progress in this case warranted intervention under section 13F. The court found that the applicant had been dilatory in providing translated and authenticated documents as previously directed, and that the respondent should not be required to guess at the applicant's case, especially in a part-heard matter. Consequently, the court made orders requiring the applicant to provide all documents within the scope of the arbitrator's directions by a specified date, and that foreign language documents not properly authenticated were not to be relied upon. The court also directed the applicant to file and serve an amended initiating application and the respondent to file his response. The objection to the subpoena was referred to a registrar for determination.