Crock v Kyriakopoulou [2000] FCA 596

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Crock v Kyriakopoulou [2000] FCA 596 Bankruptcy Act 1966 s 52

Ling v Enrobook (1997) 143 ALR 396 applied HENRY V CROCK and MARY CROCK v MELPOMENI KYRIAKOPOULOU V 7519 of 1999 SUNDBERG J 10 MAY 2000 MELBOURNE

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

VICTORIA DISTRICT REGISTRY V 7519 OF 1999

BETWEEN: HENRY V CROCK

FIRST APPLICANT

MARY CROCK

SECOND APPLICANT

AND: MELPOMENI KYRIAKOPOULOU

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: SUNDBERG J

DATE OF ORDER: 10 MAY 2000

WHERE MADE: MELBOURNE

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: 1. The estate of the abovenamed respondent be sequestrated. 2. The applicants' costs, including any reserved costs, be taxed and paid in accordance with the Bankruptcy Act 1966. Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

VICTORIA DISTRICT REGISTRY V 7519 OF 1999

BETWEEN: HENRY V CROCK

FIRST APPLICANT

MARY CROCK

SECOND APPLICANT

AND: MELPOMENI KYRIAKOPOULOU

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: SUNDBERG J

DATE: 10 MAY 2000

PLACE: MELBOURNE

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BACKGROUND 1 The respondent sued the applicants, who are medical practitioners, in the County Court at Melbourne for damages for professional negligence. The action was dismissed, and the respondent was ordered to pay costs of $92,518.67. The applicants caused a bankruptcy notice to be issued which demanded payment of the amount of the judgment. The requirements of the notice were not satisfied and the applicants filed a creditors petition seeking the sequestration of the respondent's estate. The respondent's notice of opposition to the petition contains two grounds. The first is that she did not receive a fair hearing in the County Court. The second is that the solicitors appearing for her in the County Court charged her for services they did not provide despite her paying them $5000 during the trial. These grounds are relied on as constituting "other sufficient cause" why a sequestration order should not be made. Cf s 52(2)(b) of the Bankruptcy Act 1966. Because the respondent was appearing for herself, I permitted her to raise other grounds. They were that she had not been served with the bankruptcy notice, she had not been served with the petition, and the order made by the taxing officer of the County Court was not signed by him but by someone else and was thus a forgery. These additional grounds go to whether the formal requirements for the making of a sequestration order have been satisfied.