Coeur de Lion Investments Pty Ltd v Lewis & Ors

(2020) 4 QR 455; [2020] QCA 111

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Private prosecution
3. › Right to institute private prosecution for Commonwealth offences
4. › Whether contrary intention appears in Act creating offence
5. › Whether s 1315 of Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) precludes private prosecution
6. › Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s 13
7. › Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), s 1315
1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › Construction of Commonwealth legislation
3. › Contrary intention
4. › Whether contrary intention may appear by implication
5. › Role of legislative history and extrinsic materials
6. › Whether principle of legality applies to s 13 of Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
7. › Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth), ss 15AA, 15AB
1. Corporations
2. › Offences
3. › Prosecution of offences under Corporations Act
4. › Standing to prosecute
5. › Whether s 1315 exhaustively defines persons who may institute proceedings
6. › Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), s 1315

Quick Take

Section 1315 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) evinces a contrary intention for the purposes of s 13 of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), precluding private prosecutions for offences under the Corporations Act. Only ASIC, a Commission delegate, or a person authorised in writing by the Minister may institute such proceedings, without prejudice to the statutory functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The principle of legality does not apply to the question whether a contrary intention appears under s 13 of the Crimes Act, because s 13 operates to the exclusion of the common law.