Knight v FP Special Assets Ltd [1992] HCA 28

High Court of Australia Mason C.J. Deane, Dawson, Gaudron and McHugh JJ. Knight v FP Special Assets Ltd [1992] HCA 28

ORDER Appeal dismissed with costs.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

1992, June 25 Mason C.J. and Deane J.

The question in this appeal is whether the Supreme Court of Queensland has jurisdiction to make an order for costs against the receivers of companies which were the unsuccessful parties in proceedings, the receivers themselves not being parties to those proceedings. The Full Court of the Supreme Court (Williams, Ryan and Dowsett JJ.) held that the Court had power under s. 58 of the Supreme Court Act 1867 Q. to make such an order and further held (Dowsett J. dissenting) that, in the circumstances of the two particular cases, orders were properly made against the appellant receivers. The orders were made by Connolly and de Jersey JJ. at first instance in separate motions on the ground that the receivers had instituted, maintained and defended proceedings in the name of the relevant companies. Special leave to appeal to this Court from the decision of the Full Court was specifically confined to the question whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to make the orders. This Court is not concerned therefore to examine the exercise of any discretion to make an order, that being the point on which there was a division of opinion in the Full Court.

The facts of the matter and the course of the proceedings which led to the Full Court's decision have been fully related by McHugh J. in the reasons for judgment which he has prepared, so there is no occasion for us to traverse that ground. However, we should mention that the respondents contend that jurisdiction to make the order is conferred either by s. 58 of the Supreme Court Act or by O. 91, r. 1 of the Rules of the Supreme Court.