The Court held that Part 31 rule 7 of the Supreme Court Rules authorises consolidation of five related proceedings into a single proceeding, including re-assigning a cross-claimant as plaintiff and converting statements of claim into cross-claims, with terms requiring re-pleading and preserving limitation positions. The Court rejected the contention that consolidation should rarely be ordered, holding that there is no prima facie reluctance to consolidate and that the overriding purpose rule (Part 1 rule 3) focuses the discretion on efficiency and justice. The Court further held that s 11(1) of the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-Vesting) Act 1987 has no application to a proceeding transferred from another State Supreme Court where the matter involves federal jurisdiction under the Trade Practices Act, because the court exercises federal jurisdiction (with choice of law governed by s 79 of the Judiciary Act) rather than cross-vested jurisdiction.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 17 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 17 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.