Nawar v Newcrest Mining Ltd [2022] FCA 424

Federal Court of Australia

Nawar v Newcrest Mining Ltd [2022] FCA 424 File number: NSD 1128 of 2021

Judgment of: CHEESEMAN J

Date of judgment: 22 April 2022

Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – application for summary dismissal pursuant to s 31A(2) of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) or r 26.01(1) of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) – where plaintiff is a former shareholder of the defendant, Newcrest Mining Ltd, who seeks to recover loss and damage he claims to have suffered as a result of a drop in the Newcrest share price – where plaintiff alleges Newcrest engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in breach of ss 180(1), 180(2)(c) and 1041H(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – where plaintiff alleges two former directors of Newcrest breached their duties under ss 182(1)(b), 183(1)(b), 184(1)(a), 184(2)(b) and 230 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – where plaintiff alleges, in the alternative, that the conduct of Newcrest was oppressive against him such as to give rise to relief under s 233 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – where the plaintiff is self-represented – whether the plaintiff has any reasonable prospects of successfully prosecuting his claims – Held: proceedings summarily dismissed. PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Newcrest seeks relief, in the alternative, that the amended statement of claim be struck out in its entirety under rr 16.21(1)(c), (d) and (e) of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) – whether the pleading is evasive or ambiguous – whether the pleading is likely to cause prejudice, embarrassment or delay in the proceeding - whether the pleading discloses a reasonable cause of action - Held: If the proceedings were not summarily dismissed, the Court would strike out the amended statement of claim in its entirety and would not grant leave to re-plead.