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Administrative Notices issued by the NSW District Registrar
NSW 2 - Corporations Matters
This Administrative Notice replaces Administrative Notice NSW 2 issued on 12 May 2010.
Purpose of Notice
1. This notice sets out the administrative arrangements for the allocation and case management of Corporations matters in the New South Wales District Registry of the Court.
2. The expression Corporations matters includes matters arising under the Corporations Act 2001, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act 2001 and the Cross Border Insolvency Act 2008, as well as transfers and amalgamations of insurance businesses under Part 9 of the Insurance Act 1995 (Cth) and Division 3A of Part III of the Insurance Act 1973 (Cth). All matters involving corporate insolvency are included, but not personal bankruptcy matters.
3. The approach outlined in this Notice is directed to achieving the overarching purpose of the civil practice and procedure provisions identified in s 37M of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth). That purpose is to facilitate the just resolution of disputes according to law as quickly, inexpensively and efficiently as possible.
4. The Federal Court e-Lodgement portal allows litigants to commence proceedings by way of electronic lodgement rather than by attending the Registry or fax filing. Accordingly, any Corporations matter can be commenced electronically via the portal at http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/ecourt/ecourt_elodgment.html.
Corporations Duty Judge Matters
5. The following Corporations matters may be dealt with by the Corporations Duty Judge:
- applications without a defendant, such as, but not limited to, applications under Part 5.1 (Arrangements and Reconstructions) and Part 5.3A (Administration with a view to Deed of Company Arrangement) of the Corporations Act 2001 and insurance business transfers and amalgamations.
- ex parte applications in respect of Corporations matters, such as abridgement of time for service, interlocutory injunctions, freezing and search orders, and
- any other application that may arise in respect of a Corporations matter that is not conveniently accommodated by filing in the Registry in the usual way.
6. Arrangements for hearing applications in respect of Corporations Duty Judge matters should be made directly with the associate of the Corporations Duty Judge. Details of the Corporations Duty Judge rostered on duty are available daily in the published Court List or on Level 3 of the Law Courts Building.
7. For urgent applications in respect of Corporations matters out of business hours or on days other than Court sitting days, parties may contact the Law Courts Security desk on (02) 9230 8025. Arrangements will then be made to communicate with the Corporations Duty Judge. Depending on the degree of urgency of a matter, the Corporations Duty Judge will hear it out of business hours or on days other than Court sitting days.
Registrar Matters, including Winding Up and Statutory Demand Matters
8. The following Corporations matters are dealt with by the Registrar (Registrar matters):
- applications for winding up orders on grounds of presumed insolvency under s 459C of the Corporations Act,
- applications to set aside statutory demands on grounds of a genuine dispute or offsetting claim or for other orders under s 459G, s 459H and s459J of the Corporations Act, and
- all other Corporations matters that are within a Registrar's powers, under Rule 16.1 and Schedule 2 of the Federal Court (Corporations) Rules 2000 (“Corporations Rules”); s 35A of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth); and Rule 3.01 and Schedule 2 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.
9. Registrar matters will be dealt with in the Registrar’s Corporations List on Fridays at 9.30am and Wednesdays at 10.15am and 2.15pm. The Registrar will hear matters that are considered appropriate to be dealt with in the Registrar’s Corporations List on the first court date where practicable or may make a special fixture in respect of contested matters.
10. A person appearing before a Registrar to oppose the making of a winding up order should, before the first hearing date of the winding up application, and within the timeframe prescribed by Rule 2.9 of the Corporations Rules, in accordance with s 465C, file a notice of appearance and accompanying affidavit setting out the grounds on which the person opposes the making of a winding up order.
11. A plaintiff appearing before a Registrar in respect of a statutory demand matter should, before the first hearing date, and within the timeframe prescribed by Corporations Rule 2.7, file any affidavits or other material relevant to the genuine dispute or offsetting claim.
12. All parties appearing before the Registrar should be able to inform the Registrar of the substance of the claim and defence and identify the likely issues.
13. Matters that are not within a Registrar's powers and matters that the Registrar does not consider appropriate to be dealt with by a Registrar will be referred to the Corporations Duty Judge. Under s 35A(7) of the Federal Court Act and Rule 3.05 of the Federal Court Rules 2011, a party may apply to have a matter that is within a Registrar’s powers determined by a Judge.
14. The Corporations Convening Judge or the Corporations Duty Judge will be available to deal with matters referred from the Registrar's Corporations List.
Corporations Matters, other than Duty Judge Matters and Registrar Matters
15. All Corporations matters, other than Corporations Duty Judge matters and Registrar matters will initially be listed before the Corporations Convening Judge on Fridays at 9.30 am.
16. At the first Court date, the Convening Judge will deal with any interlocutory or procedural matters that arise and explore the suitability of making a mediation order. Subsequent management of such matters will be by the Convening Judge or by the Corporations Panel judge to whom the matter is referred.
Corporations Duty Judges, Corporations Convening Judge and Corporations Panel
17. The Corporations Duty Judges in NSW and their associates’ telephone numbers are as follows:
- Emmett J 02 9230 8410
- Jacobson J 02 9230 8492
- Jagot J 02 9230 8418
- Yates J 02 9230 8413
18. The Corporations Convening Judge in NSW is Emmett J. If the Corporations Convening Judge is unavailable, arrangements will be made for matters to be listed before one of the Corporations Duty Judges.
19. The Corporations Panel in NSW consists of the following Judges: Emmett J, Jacobson J, Edmonds J, Rares J, Perram J, Jagot J, Foster J, Yates J and Robertson J.
Michael Wall
NSW District Registrar
2 August 2011
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