Prentice v Cummins (No 5) [2002] FCA 1503

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Prentice v Cummins (No 5) [2002] FCA 1503 EVIDENCE – judicial notice – Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), s 144 – whether Court can take judicial notice of Bills forming "trigger" for double dissolution of Commonwealth Parliament – whether unfair to permit party to rely on such material where it had not been identified prior to supplementary written submissions. PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – no case submissions – principles to be applied where evidence is said to be insufficient to support applicant's case. BANKRUPTCY – Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) – s 121 – voluntary transfer by bankrupt of matrimonial home and shares – bankrupt a practising barrister who had not lodged a tax return for many years – whether evidence sufficient to establish for the purposes of a no-case submission that bankrupt's "main purpose" was to defeat or delay creditors.

Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), ss 6, 55(4A), 81, 120, 121 Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) Bankruptcy Legislation Amendment Act 1996 (Cth) Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW), s 37A Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), s 144 Fraudulent Conveyances Act 1571 (13 Eliz I, c 5) Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth), ss 8C, 8E, 8ZH Australia Card Bill 1987 Bankruptcy Legislation Amendment Bill 1995 Prentice v Cummins (No 1) [2002] FCA 1140, referred to. Prentice v Cummins (No 2) [2002] FCA 1165, referred to. Prentice v Cummins (No 4) [2002] FCA 1215, referred to. Giannarelli v Wraith (1988) 165 CLR 543, discussed. Wraith v Giannarelli [1988] VR 713, discussed. Rondel v Worsley [1969] 1 AC 191, cited. Saif Ali v Sydney Mitchell & Co [1980] AC 198, cited. Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336, applied. Holland v Jones (1917) 23 CLR 149, cited. Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth of Australia (1953) 83 CLR 1, cited. Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (NSW) v W R Moran Pty Ltd (1939) 61 CLR 735, cited. Baldwin & Francis Ltd v Patents Appeal Tribunal [1959] AC 663, cited. R v Henry (1999) 46 NSWLR 346, cited. Saul v Menon [1980] 2 NSWLR 314, cited. PT Garuda Indonesia Ltd v Grellman (1992) 35 FCR 515, cited. Cannane v J Cannane Pty Ltd (1998) 192 CLR 557, cited. Barton v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (1974) 131 CLR 370, cited. Re Jury; Ashton v Prentice (1999) 92 FCR 68, cited. Williams v Lloyd (1934) 50 CLR 341, cited Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Spotless Services Ltd (1996) 186 CLR 404, cited. Noakes v J Harvy Holmes & Son (1979) 37 FLR 5, cited. Official Trustee in Bankruptcy v Alvaro (1996) 66 FCR 372, cited. Freeman v Pope (1870) LR 5 Ch 538, cited. Mackay v Douglas (1872) LR 14 Eq 106, cited. Ebner v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy (1999) 91 FCR 353, cited. Ex parte Mercer; In re Wise (1886) 17 QBD 290, distinguished. Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Moorebank Pty Ltd (1988) 165 CLR 56, cited. Clyne v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (1981) 150 CLR 1, cited. Taylor v Commissioner of Taxation (1987) 16 FCR 212, cited. Commissioner of Taxation v Kavich (1996) 96 FCR 519, cited. Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298, applied. James v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (1986) 64 ALR 347, cited. Tate v Johnson (1953) 70 WN (NSW) 302, cited. Protean (Holdings Ltd v American Home Assurance Co [1985] VR 187, distinguished. Rasomen v Shell Company of Australia Ltd (1997) 75 FCR 216, cited. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Amcor Printing Papers Group Ltd (2000) 169 ALR 344, cited. Bradshaw v McEwans Pty (unreported, 27 April 1951), cited. Payne v Parker [1976] 1 NSWLR 191, cited. Hospitality Group Pty Ltd v Australian Rugby Union Ltd (2001) 110 FCR 157, cited. J D Heydon, Cross on Evidence (6th Aust ed, 2000) Law Reform Commission, General Insolvency Inquiry (Report No 45, 1988) MAXWELL WILLIAM PRENTICE & ANOR (together the Trustees of the property of John Daniel Cummins, a Bankrupt) v MARY ELIZABETH CUMMINS & ORS N 7481 of 2001 SACKVILLE J SYDNEY 5 DECEMBER 2002