Principles
5 The orders for the issue of warrants were sought under r 11.10 of the Federal Court (Corporations Rules) 2000 (Cth). That rule is in Division 11, which makes provision in relation to the issue, conduct and discharge of summonses including those under s 596A and s 596B of the Corporations Act. Rule 11.10 provides:
(1) This rule applies if a person is summoned or ordered by the Court to attend for examination, and:
(a) without reasonable cause, the person:
(i) fails to attend at the time and place appointed; or
(ii) fails to attend from day to day until the conclusion of the examination; or
(iii) refuses or fails to take an oath or make an affirmation; or
(iv) refuses or fails to answer a question that the Court directs the person to answer; or
(v) refuses or fails to produce books that the summons requires the person to produce; or
(vi) fails to comply with a requirement by the Court to sign a written record of the examination; or
(b) before the day fixed for the examination, the person who applied for the summons or order satisfies the Court that there is reason to believe that the person summoned or ordered to attend for examination has absconded or is about to abscond.
(2) The Court may:
(a) issue a warrant for the arrest of the person summoned or ordered to attend for examination; and
(b) make any other orders that the Court thinks just or necessary.
6 As to any requirement of proof that the person knew about the summons, in Re Struthers [2005] NSWSC 864 at [40], Brereton J proceeded on the basis that it is implicit in the requirement that a person is 'summoned by the Court to attend for examination' that the summons 'be conveyed to or served on the examinee'. In Mensink v Parbery [2018] FCAFC 101; (2018) 264 FCR 265 at [171], Bromwich J (Besanko and Wigney JJ agreeing) seemed to consider that the question was whether the person knew of the obligation to attend court on the particular occasion. At [176] and [180] his Honour also seemed to consider that constructive notice may be sufficient.
7 I thus proceeded on the basis that it was necessary for the liquidator to establish that the summons, and the need to attend on a specific occasion as ordered by the Court, was brought to the attention of the person who was sought to be the object of the warrant. That is not necessarily the same thing as personal service, although obviously personal service of a summons or order will be enough to establish it. Nor is it the same thing as substituted service, although the requirement, before substituted service is ordered, that there is a high probability that the manner of service will bring the summons or order to the person's attention, may go a long way to establishing it.
8 As to the requirement in r 11.10(1)(a)(i) and (ii) that the person has failed to attend 'without reasonable cause', courts have generally proceeded on the basis that there is an onus of negativing reasonable cause on the applicant for the warrant, although, since knowledge of the cause is almost exclusively in the possession of the prospective examinee, only slight evidence is needed to discharge that onus: Re Struthers at [44]; Mensink v Parbery at [58], [153], [156].
9 Certainly, courts taking that approach have been prepared to conclude on slight evidence that the prospective examinee does not have reasonable cause for failing to attend. For example, evidence that the person has been talking to other people recently may support an inference that the person is alive, well and, in practical terms, available to give evidence: see Re Actwane Pty Limited (In Liquidation) (Receiver & Manager Appointed) [2002] NSWSC 512 at [9] (Campbell J, reasons re issue of warrant). In Pascoe; Re GMP Electrical and Technical Services Limited (in liq) [2010] FCA 999 at [4], Stone J held that in circumstances where an examinee had not responded to the service of the summons in any way, it appeared that he had no reasonable cause for his failure to comply. That was in a context where the person had refused to comply with numerous directions and requests from the liquidator's office.
10 As will be seen below, in relation to Mr Sumarya there was essentially no evidence as to whether he had a reasonable cause not to attend. I considered that required me to determine whether r 11.10 does indeed impose an onus on the liquidator to negative reasonable cause.
11 The apparent source of the approach that the onus of disproving reasonable cause is on the liquidator is Re Struthers at [44]. But there, Brereton J did not decide where the onus lay; his Honour was simply content to proceed on the basis that it lay on the liquidator. His Honour gave no reasoning for taking that approach, and did not cite any previous authority. In Mensink v Parbery, while the Full Court was content to proceed in the same way, at [172] it left the question open.
12 Whether the rule does place the onus of establishing reasonable cause on the prospective examinee or on the liquidator is a question of statutory interpretation. It is convenient to repeat the relevant principles as collected in Frigger v Trenfield (No 10) [2021] FCA 1500 at [511]:
It must be determined as a matter of substance: Avel Pty Ltd v Multicoin Amusements Pty Ltd (1990) 171 CLR 88 at 119 (McHugh J). The question is whether the matter in question is part of the total statement of the obligation, or whether it is in the nature of an excuse or justification: Avel at 119; Vines v Djordjevitch (1955) 91 CLR 512 at 519-520. If the purpose of the legislation is to lay down a principle of liability which is intended to apply generally, and then to provide for some special grounds of excuse, justification or exculpation depending upon new or additional facts, the onus of proving those facts will lie on the party seeking to rely on them: Vines at 519-120. If the form or structure of the legislation does not give definite guidance on the question of burden of proof, it may be significant that the matter is peculiarly within the knowledge of one party or easier for that party to prove: Waters v Mercedes Holdings Pty Ltd [2012] FCAFC 80; (2012) 203 FCR 218 at [19].
13 It is also relevant that as a general, although not uniform rule, the proof of a negative is not imposed on a party: Darling Island Stevedoring & Lighterage Co Ltd v Jacobsen (1945) 70 CLR 635 at 644 (Dixon J).
14 Applying these principles to r 11.10 of the Corporations Rules indicates that the onus of establishing that there is reasonable cause lies on the prospective examinee, not the other way around. The nature of the obligation for the enforcement of which the rule provides is clear enough; it is to obey the summons. If there is a reasonable cause for not obeying the summons, that is in the nature of an excuse or justification; it is not part of the total statement of the obligation. If there is a reasonable cause, it will appear from new or additional facts, and those facts are likely to be uniquely within the knowledge of the examinee and, in the circumstances for which the rule provides, difficult or impossible for the applicant for the warrant to prove. It is unlikely that the benefit of the rule is intended to be confined to cases, like Re Struthers and like Mensink v Parbery, where the examinee makes some contact with the liquidator about the warrant, whether directly or through solicitors, so that inferences about the cause of his or her non-attendance are more readily reached.
15 In R v DA [2016] VSCA 325, the Court of Appeal of Victoria held that in a prosecution for contempt of the Chief Examiner under s 49(1)(b) of the Major Crime (Investigative Powers) Act 2004 (Vic) for refusing or failing to answer a question, the onus of proving that a person had no reasonable excuse for that refusal or failure fell on the prosecutor, although the accused still had an evidentiary onus to discharge: at [47]. The Court of Appeal was influenced in that regard by the fact that in s 49(1)(b), the exception was placed within the statement of the rule: at [47]. But R v DA is a different case, in the criminal jurisdiction, where the presumption of innocence and the usual obligation of the prosecution to prove all elements of the offence beyond reasonable doubt loomed large. The decision of the High Court in Chugg v Pacific Dunlop Ltd (1990) 170 CLR 249, on which the Court of Appeal relied concerning the significance of the drafting structure of the provision shows that the true characterisation of the element, exception or excuse is a matter of substance, not of form: at 257-259. In any event, as a matter of form, the obligation in this case - to comply with the summons and orders of the Court - appear elsewhere, namely in the summonses and orders themselves. I do not consider that the particular form or structure of r 11.10 bears on the issue to any great degree. The considerations of substance all point to the onus being on the prospective examinee.
16 It is true that applications for the issue of warrants may be made ex parte: Re Struthers at [47]; Re Biotech Energy Pty Ltd (Receivers and Managers appointed) [2023] FCA 653 at [33] (Halley J). Obviously, if that occurs the examinee will have no opportunity to discharge the onus. But there is nothing inherent in the rule that requires the application to be made ex parte, and often it is not; Re Struthers and Mensink v Parbery are examples of applications that were opposed. Mr Sumarya and Mr Featherby were given notice of the present application in the ways that are described below.
17 That is in contrast to r 11.10(1)(b) (reproduced above) which is directed in part to people who are about to abscond. Those applications may well be brought ex parte, but the concept of reasonable excuse does not qualify r 11.10(1)(b). And if an application under r 11.10(1)(a) is brought ex parte, there will be an obligation to bring any material matter within the applicant's knowledge to the Court's attention. If a person who has been served with a summons truly does have a reasonable cause not to attend, the proper course to take will be to bring it to the Court's attention before the return date, ideally in the course of applying for an extension of time.
18 I note that in Mensink v Parbery at [44], Wigney J said, contrary to Brereton J in Re Struthers, that the requirement of proving that that the summons or order was brought to the attention of the prospective examinee is not necessarily implicit in the concept of a person being 'summoned or ordered by the Court to attend for examination', and that the better view is that it is relevant to the element relating to reasonable cause. If that is correct, it would suggest that the onus of proving reasonable cause cannot be on the examinee, since it would be absurd to expect them to disprove that they were aware of the summons at all. But Wigney J was speaking obiter and the other two members of the Full Court made no comment on the point. Respectfully, I consider that even if the requirement that the person knew of the summons is not implicit in the concept that they have been summoned or ordered to attend, it is implicit in another word used in r 11.10, namely that they have 'failed' to attend. I therefore do not consider that placing the onus of proving reasonable cause on the prospective examinee is inconsistent with placing the onus of proving knowledge of the summons or order on the applicant for the warrant.
19 If the conditions for the issue of a warrant are met, a discretion as to whether to issue it remains. Relevant considerations include (Re Struthers at [45]):
(1) the prima facie entitlement of a person who has procured the issue of a subpoena or examinations summons which has not been set aside to have it complied with and, if not, enforced;
(2) the importance of securing compliance with orders of the Court intended to enable relevant evidence or information to be obtained in the interests of justice;
(3) the reasonableness of steps already taken to obtain the co-operative attendance of the examinee or witness and the possibility of securing attendance by less extreme means; and
(4) whether the burden imposed by the subpoena or summons is prima facie oppressive.
20 Usually the first two of these will weigh in favour of issuing a warrant: Re Struthers at [46]. The starting point is the recognition that a failure to obey court orders undermines the integrity of judicial proceedings: Polis v Zombor (No 4) [2019] FCA 2101 at [26] (O'Bryan J), and see Re Biotech Energy at [47]. One factor in favour of the exercise of the discretion is the fundamental importance of the examination regime in Part 5.9 of the Corporations Act in allowing external controllers to obtain information about the company to which they have been appointed: see Re Biotech Energy at [45].