Reasoning
31Mr Bagg's written submissions do not address a rather obvious difficulty, notwithstanding that it is squarely raised in the Liquidator's written submissions. The difficulty is that Mr Bagg wishes to pursue an application for leave to appeal against an interlocutory decision of Lindsay J when Brereton J has made final orders in the proceedings. Mr Bagg is entitled, subject to compliance with time limits, to appeal as of right from the decision of Brereton J. In such an appeal, Mr Bagg can raise any grounds that might justify setting aside the orders made by Brereton J, including grounds that go to the jurisdiction of the Court.
32Mr Golledge, who appeared for the Liquidator, contends that in these circumstances there is no injustice in refusing Mr Bagg leave to appeal, since he can pursue all grounds upon which he wishes to rely in an appeal as of right. Mr Golledge also submits that it is unsatisfactory for Mr Bagg to be permitted to pursue an interlocutory appeal on the ground that the Liquidator has no reasonable basis for his claim, when Brereton J has already made final orders on the basis that the Liquidator has proved his case (in respect of the ATO Debt).
33Mr Kalyk's answer to these submissions is that Mr Bagg will suffer prejudice if leave to appeal is not granted. Mr Kalyk seems to accept that Mr Bagg can appeal against Brereton J's decision, without submitting to the jurisdiction of the Court, on the ground that the initiating process was not properly served outside Australia or, alternatively, on the ground that the order for deemed service pursuant to UCPR r 10.14(3) should not have been made: see Laurie v Carroll at 335 (per curiam). But, says Mr Kalyk, if the notice of appeal includes grounds other than sufficiency of service (such as a challenge to Brereton J's holding that Mr Bagg contravened s 588G of the Act), Mr Bagg will be taken to have submitted to the jurisdiction. The filing of a notice of appeal incorporating such grounds, so Mr Kalyk argues, would effectively preclude Mr Bagg from challenging the sufficiency of service, since submission to the jurisdiction overcomes any deficiency in the service of initiating process.
34Mr Kalyk also says that Mr Bagg can pursue an interlocutory appeal against the orders made by Lindsay J granting the Liquidator leave to proceed without being taken to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court. According to Mr Kalyk, an interlocutory appeal on this ground is within UCPR r 12.11(1), since it amounts to an application for an order that the Court decline to exercise jurisdiction in the proceedings (r 12.11(1)(h)), or for an order granting such other relief as the Court thinks appropriate (r 12.11(1)(i)). Thus an interlocutory appeal against the order granting leave to proceed would come within r 12.11(4), which provides that an application by a defendant under r 12.11(1) does not constitute submission to the jurisdiction of the Court.
35Mr Kalyk's submissions make no reference to UCPR r 51.5(1), which provides that, except with the leave of the Court, a party may not take any step in proceedings in the Court of Appeal without entering an appearance in the proceedings. Rule 51.5(1) does not apply to a respondent who applies for an order under r 12.11 (r 51.5(2)(a)), but it does apply to an applicant for leave to appeal who applies for an order.
36We are prepared to accept that Mr Bagg has an arguable case that he was not served with the initiating process in South Africa in conformity with the requirements of UCPR r 11.6 or otherwise in compliance with the UCPR. We are also prepared to accept that Mr Bagg has an arguable case that r 10.14(3) does not apply to a defendant outside the jurisdiction, even though there is authority that it does: see, for example, Building Insurers' Guarantee Corporation v Eddie [2008] NSWSC 195 at [24] (Rein AJ); WFM Motors Pty Ltd v Maydwell (Supreme Court (NSW), Bryson J, 23 April 1993, unrep) at 5. Nonetheless, there are considerations which militate against the grant of leave to appeal.
37The first is that many of the difficulties in this case flow from the delay in Mr Bagg filing a summons seeking leave to appeal from the decision of Lindsay J. His Honour delivered judgment and made orders on 10 July 2014. Mr Bagg's legal representatives were in Court when judgment was delivered and the orders made.
38Mr Kalyk, in his written submissions, said that it was "arguable" that the date the judgment was delivered (10 July 2014) was not the "material date" for the purposes of determining the time within which the summons for leave to appeal had to be filed and served: see UCPR r 51.2. He referred to Jamal v State of New South Wales [2014] NSWCA 199, where Basten JA (McColl JA agreeing) said (at [9]) that it was arguable that where a party has a statutory entitlement to written reasons, the "material date" is the date on which the written reasons are given. However, Basten JA also said that:
"the better view is that, at least when a decision and reasons are given in the presence of the party, that day is the 'material date' under r 51.2".
39Mr Kalyk did not develop the point further and for present purposes it should be accepted that the summons for leave to appeal should have been filed and served on Mr Bagg's behalf by 8 August 2014: UCPR r 51.10.
40As has been explained, Mr Bagg's solicitor interpreted the comment made by Lindsay J immediately before delivering his ex tempore judgment to mean that further reasons would be delivered at a later date. However, no further enquiries were made until 22 August 2014 to verify that understanding or (apparently) to obtain a transcript of the ex tempore judgment. On 22 August 2014, over six weeks after delivery of the judgment, Mr Bagg's solicitor provided to the Liquidator's solicitor a draft of a letter she proposed to send to Lindsay J's Associate. The Liquidator's solicitor advised that day that the Liquidator would not consent to the letter being sent unless Mr Bagg filed an appearance. It took a further nine days for Mr Bagg to send his own letter to Lindsay J's Associate (see at [15] above).
41Despite receiving a certified copy of the judgment on 1 September 2014 and despite being informed that the Liquidator's application for summary judgment would be heard on 22 September 2014, neither Mr Bagg nor his solicitor filed a summons for leave to appeal against Lindsay J's decision before the hearing. At the hearing, Brereton J (according to his Honour's judgment at [6]) was told that Mr Bagg's application for leave to appeal would be filed "within the next few weeks". In fact, the summons for leave to appeal was filed on 29 September 2014, after Mr Bagg's application for an adjournment had been refused and the hearing on the summary judgment application had taken place on 22 September 2014.
42Had Mr Bagg or his solicitors acted in a timely fashion, it is highly likely that the Liquidator's claim would not have proceeded to a final judgment until after the application for leave to appeal (and the appeal itself, if leave was granted) had been determined. Mr Bagg would then not have been in the position of seeking to argue in an interlocutory appeal against Lindsay J's decision that the Liquidator's case was untenable, when that case, in respect of the ATO Debt, had already been accepted by Brereton J as the basis for a final judgment in favour of the Liquidator.
43The second difficulty in Mr Bagg's path is that there is a strong argument that he has already submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court. The general principle was stated by Ipp J (Malcolm CJ agreeing) in Brealey v Board of Management Royal Perth Hospital [1999] WASCA 158; 21 WAR 79 at [38]:
"In determining whether steps taken by a party in the course of proceedings amount to a submission to jurisdiction, the question to be considered is whether the steps were necessary or useful to any action taken by the party other than in objecting to the jurisdiction. A step that is not consistent with or relevant to the challenge to the jurisdiction, will usually be a submission to that jurisdiction. The court must consider the matter objectively and, where the steps relied on are the actions of a solicitor, they must be considered in the context of all the relevant circumstances". (Citations omitted)
44The actions by or on behalf of Mr Bagg in the present case that appear to be necessary or useful to his case, other than his objection to the jurisdiction, include:
- actively opposing the Liquidator's application for leave to proceed against him;
- filing a motion seeking orders striking out portions of the Liquidator's Points of Claim; and
- filing a summons for leave to appeal, accompanied by a draft notice of appeal incorporating grounds apparently challenging the merits of the Liquidator's claim.
45Mr Kalyk asserts that each of these steps is within UCPR r 12.11 and thus none amounts to a submission by Mr Bagg to the jurisdiction. There is no doubt that Mr Bagg's motion, insofar as it sought a declaration that he had not been validly served and an order setting aside service, was within r 12.11(1)(b) and (c). Accordingly, to that extent, the motion did not constitute a submission by Mr Bagg to the jurisdiction of the Court: r 12.11(4). But it is difficult to see how the other actions by Mr Bagg, identified at [44] above, were within r 12.11(1).
46Mr Bagg's active opposition to the grant of leave to the Liquidator to proceed with the litigation is said by Mr Kalyk to be within r 12.11(1)(h). But this provision only applies to an application by a defendant for an order that the court decline to exercise jurisdiction. It was the Liquidator who made the application for leave to proceed and Mr Bagg who opposed that application. If Mr Bagg's active opposition to the grant of leave to the Liquidator is not within r 12.11(1), an application for leave to appeal against the grant of leave, accompanied by a draft notice of appeal which challenges the merits of the Liquidator's case, is unlikely to be in any different position. The language of UCPR r 51.5 supports that conclusion, since r 51.5(2)(a) only exempts a respondent applying for an order under r 12.11 from the requirement to enter an appearance.
47The filing of the motion by Mr Bagg, insofar as it sought to strike out portions of the Liquidator's pleading, clearly had utility other than to bolster an objection to the jurisdiction of the Court. Indeed, one consequence of the strike out motion was that the Liquidator amended the Points of Claim. Accordingly, the strike out motion would seem to have constituted a submission by Mr Bagg to the jurisdiction of the Court.
48We do not think that the actions of Mr Bagg to which we have referred can be brought within UCPR r 12.11(1) as orders "granting such other relief as the court thinks appropriate" (r 12.11(1)(i)). That sub-paragraph should be read as embracing relief that is ancillary to one or other of the orders specifically mentioned in r 12.11(1)(a)-(h). It cannot be read as transforming an application that requires submission to the jurisdiction of the Court into one that does not have that effect, simply because the orders sought are appended to an application for orders that are within r 12.11(1).
49In our view, Mr Bagg has not shown that he would suffer significant prejudice if his application for leave to appeal is dismissed. Subject to time limits, he is entitled to appeal as of right against the decision of Brereton J.
50This judgment will be delivered shortly after the 28 day period for filing a notice of appeal has expired: UCPR r 51.16(c). It is appropriate to make an order under r 51.16(2) extending the time for Mr Bagg to file a notice of appeal against the decision of Brereton J until 19 December 2014. It will be a matter for Mr Bagg as to whether he avails himself of this extension of time.