Albarran v The Members of the Companies Auditors & Liquidators Disciplinary Board

(2006) 151 FCR 466; [2006] FCAFC 69

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Constitutional Law (Cth)
2. › Separation of judicial power
3. › Chapter III of the Constitution
4. › Whether power conferred on administrative body involves exercise of judicial power of the Commonwealth
5. › Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board
6. › Power to cancel or suspend registration of liquidators
7. › Whether punitive in character
8. › Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), s 1292
1. Corporations
2. › Registration of liquidators
3. › Cancellation or suspension of registration
4. › Disciplinary proceedings
5. › Nature of power exercised by Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board
6. › Whether licensing regime or exercise of judicial power
7. › Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), ss 1279, 1282, 1292

Quick Take

The power of the Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board under s 1292 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to cancel or suspend the registration of a liquidator is administrative, not judicial, in character. The Board's function is to make an evaluative determination about whether a person should continue to hold a statutory position, not to determine existing rights and obligations or to punish for offences. The distinction between deciding whether a statutory right should exist in the future and deciding what legal rights or obligations in fact exist is fundamental to the characterisation.