Kern v Qantas Airways Limited [2015] NSWSC 1565

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Kern v Qantas Airways Limited [2015] NSWSC 1565 Hearing dates: 08 October 2015 Date of orders: 27 October 2015 Decision date: 27 October 2015 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Harrison AsJ Decision: The Court orders that:

(1) The amended statement of claim filed 1 July 2015 is dismissed.

(2) The proceedings are dismissed.

(3) The plaintiff is to pay the defendants' costs of the proceedings, including the costs of Airbus Group Australia Pacific Limited and the costs of the notices of motion filed on 30 July 2015 and 25 September 2015 on an ordinary basis as agreed or assessed. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE – application for summary dismissal – whether claim statute barred pursuant to s 9B of the Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1959 (Cth) and Article 35 of the Montreal Convention 1999 – wrong defendant named – whether pleadings disclose a reasonable cause of action, are embarrassing or are an abuse of process Legislation Cited: Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability Act) 1959 (Cth) Civil Aviation Legislation Amendment (1999 Montreal Convention and Other Measures) Act 2008 (Cth) Federal Court Act 1976 (Cth) Guadalajara Convention 1961 Hague Protocol 1955 Montreal Convention 1999 Montreal Protocol No. 4 1975 Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (Cth) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Warsaw Convention 1929 Cases Cited: Agtrack (NT) Pty Ltd v Hatfield [2005] HCA 38; (2005) 223 CLR 251 Clarke v New South Wales [2015] NSWSC 1054 Grein v Imperial Airways Ltd [1937] 1 KB 50; [1936] 2 All ER 1258 O'Brien v Bank of Western Australia Ltd [2013] NSWCA 71 Povey v Qantas Airways Ltd [2005] HCA 33; (2005) 223 CLR 189 Qantas Ltd v Povey [2003] VSCA 227; (2003) 11 VR 642 Sidhu & Abnett (known as Sykes) v British Airways plc [1997] AC 430; [1997] 1 All ER 193 Spencer v Commonwealth [2010] HCA 28; (2010) 241 CLR 118 Stott v Thomas Cook Tour Operators Ltd [2014] AC 1347; [2014] 2 All ER 409 United Airlines Inc v Sercel Australia Pty Ltd (2012) 260 FLR 37; [2012] NSWCA 24 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Seymour P Kern (Plaintiff) Qantas Airways Limited (First Defendant) Airbus Australia (Second Defendant) Rolls Royce Plc (Third Defendant) Representation: Counsel: N Chen (First and Third Defendants) J Potts (Second Defendant)