Slatcher v Globex Shipping S.A.

[2019] QCA 167

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Procedure
3. › Prosecution
4. › Committal for trial
5. › Examination of witnesses
6. › Service of complaint and summons on corporate defendant
7. › Whether service in manner prescribed by s 56(1)(b) is precondition of power to conduct examination of witnesses
8. › Whether knowledge of content of complaint and summons sufficient
9. › Justices Act 1886 (Qld), ss 54(1A), 56(1), 113A
1. Shipping and Navigation
2. › Pollution from ships
3. › Service of documents
4. › Agent of the ship
5. › Whether solicitors acting for ship's owner are 'agent of the ship'
6. › Whether former shipping agent from earlier voyage is 'agent of the ship' at time of service
7. › Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 (Cth), s 29A
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Service of process
3. › Summons
4. › Purpose of service as means of according procedural fairness
5. › Whether actual knowledge of content of process satisfies requirement for service
6. › Justices Act 1886 (Qld), ss 54(1A), 56(1)
1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › Mandatory and directory provisions
3. › Whether non-compliance with procedural steps for service invalidates exercise of statutory power
4. › Project Blue Sky methodology
5. › Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 (Cth), s 29A
6. › Justices Act 1886 (Qld), ss 54(1A), 56(1)

Quick Take

Where a corporate defendant has acquired knowledge of the content of a complaint and summons through its solicitors or otherwise, justices may proceed with an examination of witnesses under Part 5 of the Justices Act 1886 (Qld) even if the complaint and summons were not served in a way described in s 56(1)(b). A solicitors' firm providing legal services for a ship's owner is not 'the agent of the ship' for the purposes of s 29A of the POTS Act, and a shipping agent from a prior voyage years earlier is not proved to be the agent at the time of a subsequent offence or service. The temporal scope of 'agent of the ship' under s 29A was left open.