The natural justice point
7Rule 36.15(1) is in the following terms:
A judgment or order of the court in any proceedings may, on sufficient cause being shown, be set aside by order of the court if the judgment was given or entered, or the order was made, irregularly, illegally or against good faith.
8There can be no doubt that an order made in violation of the rules of natural justice is irregular within the meaning of the rule. Such an order will be set aside ex debito justitae: Cameron v Cole (1944) 68 CLR 571.
9The aspect of natural justice invoked by Mr Harker-Mortlock is the hearing rule defined by Heydon J in International Finance Trust Company Ltd v New South Wales Crime Commission [2009] HCA 49; 240 CLR 319 at 379 [141] in the following terms:
One of the primary principles on which the judicial process in this country operates is the principle that before any judicial decision is made which has substantive consequences there generally should be a "hearing". A hearing takes place before a judge at a time and place of which the moving party has given notice to the defending party. At it both parties have an opportunity to tender evidence relating to, and advance arguments in favour of, the particular orders they ask for. This aspect of the rules of natural justice pervades Australian procedural law.
At 381 [146] his Honour gave a number of illustrations of the operation of the rule including:
A court may not decide a case on a point not raised by one of the parties or by the court for the consideration of the parties. Non-compliance by a court of trial with the duty to give a hearing on a question of law which "must clearly be answered unfavourably to the aggrieved party" will not lead to a new trial, but where no hearing is given on the question whether a finding of fact turning on witness credibility should be made, it is not easy to conclude that a new trial should be refused on the ground that even if a hearing had taken place, "it could have made no possible difference to the result." ...
.... in determining whether the law should be developed in a particular direction, .... an opportunity to deal with all matters which the court regards as material [should be given to the parties]. ( Emphasis added; footnotes omitted.)
10In developing his argument, Mr Harker-Mortlock referred to Seltsam Pty Ltd v Ghaleb [2005] NSWCA 208; 3DDCR 1 at [9] - [92]. Particular reliance was placed upon the following passage from the judgment of Ipp JA with whom Mason P agreed (at [78] - [79]):
These cases illustrate the general principle that although the basis on which the parties conduct a trial does not bind the judge, if the judge contemplates determining the case on a different basis he or she must inform the parties of this prospect so that they have an opportunity to address any new or changed issues that may arise.
A failure so to inform the parties will ordinarily result in a denial of procedural fairness. A new trial will be ordered if a party is not afforded a fair trial in circumstances where a properly conducted trial might possibly have produced a different result. It will not ordinarily be necessary to lead evidence to prove that the denial of procedural fairness had the potential to affect the outcome; in most cases the facts will speak for themselves.
11It may also be important to bear in mind what Basten JA said at [160]:
... identifying unfairness should involve identifying a loss of opportunity to deal with a material issue which tends against the interests of the complainant. That is a factual inquiry in relation to procedural steps adopted by the Tribunal. This complaint must demonstrate that unfairness, in a practical sense, has occurred in the particular circumstances of the case.
(See also AMACA Pty Ltd v Doughan [2011] NSWCA 169 by Sackville AJA at [61] - [62] Giles and McColl JJA agreeing).
12In Damberg v Damberg,[2001] NSWCA 87; 52 NSWLR 492 Heydon JA (as his Honour then was was) raised the question of "the extent to which the parties, by their conduct of proceedings, can prevent the court from deciding a case in accordance with the law or the facts" (518 [148]). His Honour answered that question by reference to the consideration that in adversarial litigation the parties are entitled to choose the ground on which they will fight (see his Honour's dissenting judgment in Clodumar v Naura Lands Committee [2012] HCA 22; 245 CLR 561 at 582 [66]).
13In Pantorno v The Queen [1989] HCA 18; 166 CLR 466 at 473 Mason CJ and Brennan J said:
When the parties to an adversarial proceeding agree on a proposition of law and conduct their cases on that basis, their agreement does not bind the trial judge. If the judge determines the law to be different, he may apply the law as he determines it to be, but he must inform the parties of the view he has formed when that is necessary to give them an opportunity to address new issues arising from the judge's departure from the proposition of law on which the case was conducted. (Emphasis added)
14Returning to Damberg, Heydon JA recognised two exceptions to the rule that the parties, and the court, are bound by the parties' conduct of the case, one of which was expressed by his Honour (at 519 [149]) in the following terms:
.... an allegation of a legal right by one party which is not denied by another cannot support a claim or defence.
Heydon JA said this exception arises out of Chilton v Corporation of London (1878) 7 Ch D 735 at 740. There, Sir George Jessel MR said:
if the right by itself is one which cannot be supported in law, it cannot entitle the Plaintiff to judgment merely because the Defendant does not deny the right. The Court is bound to give judgment according to law
15I accept that both counsel who appeared at the original hearing (who did not include Mr D R Pritchard SC) failed to appreciate that the declarations of trust of 10th November 2008 were ineffective because, by them, the company declared that it held Blackburn and Brecon respectively on trust for itself absolutely: see previous judgment at [18] - [19] and [48] - [50]. I was taken to the instruments only in passing; I was not taken to the precise terms in which the trusts were said to have been created. Only a full reading of the declarations by me in chambers after I had reserved my decision imparted an appreciation of their meaning. However, that meaning is plain and does not depend upon any technique of construction about the application of which there could have been an argument.
16The principle of law involved is not contestable, or developing, but is "fundamental and uncontroversial": Rix v Mahoney and Ors (No 2) [2012] NSWCA 332 by Meagher at [19]; previous judgment [49]. Had I or Counsel appreciated their mistake during the hearing, the only practical consequence that could be suggested is that Senior Counsel for Mr Harker-Mortlock may have applied for an adjournment to carry out the investigations that have been carried out since my previous judgment, to bring forward the evidence that is now brought forward (as to which see below) to demonstrate a pleadable case in rectification.
17In passing Mr Pritchard referred to the rule of construction which favours a choice, where one is available, which "validates" the instrument being construed over another which would permit it to fail. This approach is usually expressed in the Latin maxim verba ita sunt intelligenda ut res magis valeat quam pereat. However, the approach is permissible only "in cases of real ambiguity": Drew Robinson & Co v Shearer (1914) 18 CLR 209 at 221 by Isaacs and Rich JJ. The approach does not empower a court to eschew a clearly preferable construction, linguistically speaking: IRC v Williams [1969] 1 WLR 1197 at 1201 by Megarry J (as his Lordship then was).
18In re: Baden's Deed Trusts [1969] 2 Ch 388 was a case concerning the construction of a deed establishing a discretionary trust. At page 400 Harmon LJ (with the agreement of Karminski LJ) said:
... I am of opinion that the court is at liberty, if the considerations on both sides seem evenly balanced, to lean towards that which may effectuate rather than frustrate the settlor's intentions. This is a true application of the doctrine ut res magis valeat quam pereat. I by no means hold that the court may take this course by flying in the teeth of the provisions of the deed, so that the weaker view may prevail because it is likely to have an effectual result, but where the terms of the deed produced a balance so even as the present I am of opinion that the doctrine may be called in aid. (Emphasis Added)
19I am not persuaded that I breached the hearing rule aspect of natural justice in my first decision for the following reasons:
(a)the question of law was the construction of the very instruments relied upon as the foundation of Mr Harker-Mortlock's argument. They were the central evidence tendered to support it. On their face the instruments did not justify the case.
(b)that question of law is one, for the reasons I gave in my first judgment, and to which I have referred above, "which "must clearly be answered unfavourably to the aggrieved party" i.e. Mr. Harker-Mortlock: International Finance Trust at 381 [146]; Stead v State Government Insurance Commission (1986) 161 CLR 141 at 145 - 146;
(c)given the fundamental and uncontroversial nature of the relevant rule of law, the case is not one where it was "necessary to give [the parties] an opportunity to address new issues arising from [my] departure from the proposition of law on which the case was conducted": Pantorno at 473;
(d)in any event, and for the same reason, the exception identified by Heydon JA in Damberg at 519 [149] based on Chilton v Corp. of London was engaged: Mr Harker-Mortlock's claim was one that could not be supported in law. That the Bank did not deny the purported creation of a trust "cannot entitle [Mr Harker-Mortlock] to judgment"based on it;
(e)There was no practical injustice. First, because rectification was never raised it is not possible that an indefinite adjournment of an application to set aside default judgment to investigate such a case for the first time could be justified when a second interlocutory application is permissible: Nominal Defendant v Manning [2000] NSWCA 80; 50 NSWLR 139. Secondly, the clarity of the language in which the declarations of trust are expressed would not permit application of the "validate if possible" (see Rayfield v Hands [1960] Ch 1) approach to construction.
20I refuse the application to set aside my orders under r 36.15.