ONE.TEL LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) v JOHN DAVID RICH & ORS [2005] NSWSC 226

Reported Decision : 53 ACSR 623 (2005) 23 ACLC 556

New South Wales Supreme Court

ONE.TEL LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) v JOHN DAVID RICH & ORS [2005] NSWSC 226 CITATION : This decision has been amended. Please see the end of the judgment for a list of the amendments.

HEARING DATE(S) : 4 February 2005

JUDGMENT DATE : 23 March 2005

JURISDICTION : Commercial List

JUDGMENT OF : Bergin J

DECISION : (1)The plaintiff does not have standing to seek declarations of contravention of civil penalty provisions of the Corporations Act 2001: (2) Proceedings for an order for compensation under s 1317H(1) (and s 1317HA(1)) of the Corporations Act, and their predecessors, are not proceedings for the imposition of a penalty: (3) The defendants are not required to file evidence in the proceedings.

CATCHWORDS : [CORPORATIONS] - Applications for strike-out of those parts of the pleadings in which the plaintiff sought declarations of contravention under s 1317E of the Corporations Act - Lack of standing in plaintiff to make application under s 1317J - - [STATUTORY INTERPRETATION] - [CIVIL PENALTIES] - Whether the proceedings seeking a compensation order under s 1317H (and s 1317HA), and their predecessors, are proceedings for imposition of a penalty - Whether the defendants should be required to file evidence prior to trial - Proposed amendments to the Act to ensure fairness of trials - - [NOTES] - Status of "Note" in the statute - Whether in the category of marginal note, endnote or footnote - New category of Statutory Note.

Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004 (Cth) Corporate Law Reform Act 1992 (Cth) Corporate Law Reform Act 1994 (Cth) Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Corporations Law (Securities and Futures) Amendment Act 1995 (Cth) LEGISLATION CITED : Corporations Legislation Amendment Act 1990 (Cth) Corporations Legislation Amendment Act 1994 (Cth) Corporations (Unlisted Property Trusts) Amendment Act 1991 (Cth) Financial Services Reform Act 2001 (Cth) First Corporate Law Simplification Act 1995 (Cth) Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Act 1883 (UK)