Mitchell v Royal New South Wales Canine Council Limited [2000] NSWSC 330

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Mitchell v Royal New South Wales Canine Council Limited [2000] NSWSC 330 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Common Law FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 11356/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 5 April 2000 JUDGMENT DATE : 19 April 2000

PARTIES : Colleen Mitchell (Plaintiff) Royal New South Wales Canine Council Limited (Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Simpson J at 1

COUNSEL : Mr P Roberts SC with Mr M Green (Plaintiff) Mr F Corsaro (Defendant) SOLICITORS : Horowitz & Bilinsky (Plaintiff) Henry Davis York (Defendant) Lee v The Showman's Guild of Great Britain [1952] 2 QB 329 Australian Football League v Carlton Football Club Limited [1998] 2 VR 546 CASES CITED : Malone v Marr [1981] 2 NSWLR 894 Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 366 Rejfek v McElroy (1965) 112 CLR 517 DECISION : Summons dismissed. Any previous orders that subsist are discharged; The plaintiff to pay the Council's costs of the proceedings.

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

SIMPSON J

Wednesday 19 April 2000

11356/99 MITCHELL v ROYAL NEW SOUTH WALES CANINE COUNCIL LIMITED Judgment

HER HONOUR : 1 In these proceedings the plaintiff, Ms Colleen Mitchell, claims injunctive, declaratory and consequential relief in relation to certain internal disciplinary proceedings conducted by the defendant association of which she is a member and director. The full title of the defendant association is "Royal NSW Canine Council Limited". I will refer to it as "the Council". The Council's Articles of Association, but not the Memorandum, are in evidence. 2 The rights and obligations incidental to membership of the Council are the subject of an elaborate set of provisions contained in the Articles of Association and Regulations made under the authority of the Articles. Membership of the Council amounts to a contractual arrangement between the Council and its members. The Articles of Association are properly to be seen as the written form of the contract containing the terms which bind the Council and its members. 3 It is convenient here to refer to the relevant Articles and Regulations, and the structures pursuant to which the Council operates and which are involved in the various procedures to be outlined below. The first document to be noticed is the Articles of Association. 4 Article 17 is concerned with and headed "Disciplining of Members". It may be set out in full: