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Prime Commercial Ltd v Wool Board Disestablishment Company Ltd

Prime Commercial Ltd v Wool Board Disestablishment Company Ltd

Case [2007] NZSC 9 7 March 2007

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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW ZEALAND
SC 85/2006
[2007] NZSC 9

BETWEENPRIME COMMERCIAL LIMITED

Applicant

ANDWOOL BOARD DISESTABLISHMENT COMPANY LIMITED

Respondent

Court:Tipping, McGrath and Anderson JJ
Counsel:C Anastasiou and R Palu for Applicant

R A Dobson QC and R M C Luxford for Respondent

Judgment:7 March 2007

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

1The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.

2Prime Commercial Limited is to pay Wool Board Disestablishment Company Limited costs in the sum of $2,500.00 plus disbursements, if any, to be fixed if necessary by the Registrar.

REASONS

[1]       The applicant failed to negotiate a binding contract for the purchase of a property from the respondent. It sued the respondent for damages alleging breach of process contract and that the respondent had not acted in good faith during the negotiations. The applicant’s claim failed in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. It now seeks leave to appeal to this Court alleging that the process contract and good faith issues are matters of general importance.
[2]       We accept that these issues are capable of qualifying for a grant of leave but we decline leave because, on the best possible view of the facts and the law from the applicant’s point of view, we do not consider it has sufficient prospects of success on the proposed appeal to warrant a grant of leave. In these circumstances it is not in the interests of justice for leave to be granted.
[3]       The applicant must pay costs to the respondent in the sum of $2,500.00 plus disbursements, if any, to be fixed if necessary by the Registrar.
Solicitors:
Con Anastasiou, Wellington for Applicant
Kensington Swan, Wellington for Respondent

Details

AGLC: Prime Commercial Ltd v Wool Board Disestablishment Company Ltd [2007] NZSC 9
Case: [2007] NZSC 9
Decision Date: 7 March 2007

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Prime Commercial Limited sought leave to appeal against the dismissal of its claim for damages against Wool Board Disestablishment Company Limited, which had been unsuccessful in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The applicant's case was based on an alleged breach of a process contract and that the respondent had failed to act in good faith during negotiations for the purchase of a property. The Supreme Court of New Zealand was asked to consider whether the issues raised were of general importance sufficient to warrant an appeal.

The Court acknowledged that the issues of process contract and good faith could be of general importance. However, in assessing whether the applicant had sufficient prospects of success, the Court concluded that on the best possible view of the facts and the law from the applicant’s perspective, the chances of a successful appeal were not strong enough to justify granting leave. The Court emphasized that it was not in the interests of justice to allow the appeal to proceed under these circumstances. Consequently, the application for leave to appeal was dismissed.

In addition to dismissing the appeal, the Court ordered Prime Commercial Limited to pay Wool Board Disestablishment Company Limited costs in the sum of $2,500.00, with any additional disbursements to be determined by the Registrar if necessary. This decision underscored the Court's view that the appeal did not present a strong enough case to warrant further judicial resources.

Orders