Timbercorp Finance Pty Ltd (in liquidation) v. Collins & Anor

Lower Court Judgment

1/06/2016 Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal) (Warren CJ, Santamaria & McLeish JJA)

[2016] VSCA128

Catchwords

Procedure – Group proceedings - Part 4A of the Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) – Managed investment schemes – Collapse of schemes – Group proceeding on behalf of investors in schemes – Defendants include lender to investors – Dismissal of group proceeding – opt out provisions – Subsequent recovery proceedings by lender against group memebers – Group members had not opted out of group proceeding – Group members raised individual claims and defences in recovery proceedings – Whether failure to opt out of group proceeding precluded group members from raising individual claims and defences in recovery proceedings.

Procedure – Group proceedings – Anshun estoppel – Test – Whether unreasonable of group members not to have raised individual claims and defences during group proceeding – Whether group members estopped from raising individual claims and defenced in subsequent proceedings by a reason of failure to raise individual claims and defences in the group proceedings – Port of Melbourne Authority v Anshun Pty Ltd (1981) 147 CLR 589.

Procedure – Group proceedings – Abuse of process – Failure of plaintiff of group members to raise individual claims in group proceedings – Whether raising individual claims and defences by group members in subsequent proceedings is oppressive or brings administration of justice into disrepute.

Short particulars