Insurance Commission of Western Australia v Antony Leslie John Woodings as Liquidator of the Bell Group Ltd (in Liq)

[2017] WASC 372

Supreme Court of Western Australia

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Pleadings
3. › Strike out application
4. › Whether pleading discloses no reasonable cause of action
5. › Whether prejudicial, embarrassing or may delay fair trial
6. › Whether abuse of process
7. › Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA), O 20 r 19
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Declaratory relief
3. › Hypothetical questions
4. › Whether pre-conditions for relief render pleading hypothetical
5. › Declarations as to future conduct and contractual obligations
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Summary judgment
3. › Whether defendant entitled to summary judgment
4. › Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA), O 16 r 1
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Privilege
3. › Legal professional privilege
4. › Without prejudice privilege
5. › Common interest privilege
6. › Whether pleading discloses privileged communications

Quick Take

A declaration as to future contractual rights is not hypothetical where the party seeking it has a clearly stated intention to engage in the relevant conduct and there is a real dispute between the parties, even if the conduct has not yet occurred. However, a declaration as to the power of a third party to take action is hypothetical where that third party has not indicated any present intention to act. The common interest privilege does not apply to communications between parties whose interests are adversarial rather than common, even where they are parties to the same broader litigation funding arrangement.