Searle v Commonwealth of Australia (No.5) [2022] NSWSC 119

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Searle v Commonwealth of Australia (No.5) [2022] NSWSC 119 Hearing dates: 15 December 2021 Date of orders: 16 February 2022 Decision date: 16 February 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Garling J Decision: 1 Advance ruling pursuant to s 192A of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) that the evidence contained in: (1) paragraphs 11-27 and 33-34 of the affidavit of Ms Justine Lee Windsor sworn 25 September 2017; and (2) paragraphs 30-31, 36-41 and 45-46 of the affidavit of Mr Tyrone Edward Palmer dated February 2018, is inadmissible. 2 Order that the Commonwealth pay the plaintiff's and sample Group Members' costs of and incidental to this Motion. Catchwords: EVIDENCE — advance rulings under s 192A of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) — contested evidence would require additional evidence from 20 witnesses and extend the hearing by between four and six days — issues in the matter are clear — proceedings not at an early stage — advance ruling will save considerable legal expense — advance ruling given EVIDENCE — relevance — relevance to assessment of damages for breach of contract — contract wholly in writing — no other express or implied term of contract pleaded — ambiguity or vagueness not pleaded — evidence of oral statements at odds with written contract — evidence not relevant Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), Pt 10, s 56 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 55, 56, 192A Cases Cited: Australian Securities and Investments Commission, in the matter of Whitebox Trading Pty Ltd v Whitebox Trading Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 324 Davaria Pty Limited v 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd (No 9) [2021] FCA 473 Searle v Commonwealth of Australia [2018] NSWSC 1017 Searle v Commonwealth of Australia [2019] NSWCA 127 Searle v Commonwealth of Australia (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 14 Texts Cited: Not Applicable Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Clayton William Searle (P) Commonwealth of Australia (D) Representation: Counsel: N Kidd SC / D Meyerowitz-Katz (P) K Andronos SC / S Keizer (D)