Welker v Hewett [1969] HCA 53

High Court of Australia Barwick C.J. McTiernan, Kitto, Menzies and Windeyer JJ. Welker v Hewett [1969] HCA 53

ORDER Appeal allowed with costs. Order of the Supreme Court of New South Wales set aside and in lieu thereof order that the order nisi for prohibition be made absolute with costs.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

Oct. 28 Barwick C.J.

The question in this matter is whether the mere circumstance that a person, otherwise unconnected in any respect with the State of New South Wales or with the transaction by virtue of which a company has become liable to pay to the government of that State a sum of money, happens to be a director of that company at the time the statute of that State if valid would impose liability upon him to pay the company's debt, provides a sufficient foundation for an extra-territorial operation of the statute so as to validly impose that liability. In my opinion, it does not.

I have had the advantage of reading the reasons for judgment prepared by my brother Kitto in this appeal and I agree entirely with his reasons and have nothing I would wish to add for myself. Accordingly, in my opinion, the appeal should be allowed and the order nisi for statutory prohibition made absolute.

McTiernan J.

This was an order nisi for a writ of prohibition to restrain further proceedings upon a conviction and consequential orders for an offence against the Road Maintenance (Contribution) Act, 1958-1965 N.S.W., consisting in the refusal of the appellant to comply with the requirement of a notice served on him pursuant to s. 10A (2) of this Act. The requirement of the notice was that the appellant, who was a director of a company which was the owner within the meaning of s. 3 (1) of the Act, should pay to the Commissioner for Motor Transport amounts of money which were charges owing by that company under s. 5 of the Act and which it had failed to pay.