Seven Network v Cricket Australia

• Jurisdiction: Australia Federal only
• Judgment Date: 27 August 2021
• Neutral Citation: [2021] FCA 1031
• Court: Federal Court
• Date: 27 August 2021

Federal Court of Australia

Seven Network v Cricket Australia [2021] FCA 1031

File number:	VID 764 of 2020
Judgment of:	ANASTASSIOU J
Date of judgment:	27 August 2021
Catchwords:	PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – preliminary discovery application pursuant to r 7.23 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) – whether Federal Court of Australia has jurisdiction to hear and determine prospective proceeding – whether there is a matter that arises under federal law or a right, duty or obligation that owes its existence to federal law or depends upon federal law for its enforcement – jurisdiction established ; PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – consideration of three limbs of r 7.23(1) – whether prospective applicant has grounds for reasonable belief in potential right to obtain relief – grounds established – whether prospective applicant has made reasonable inquiries and does not have sufficient information to decide whether to commence proceedings – reasonable inquiries made and insufficient information received – whether prospective respondent has or is likely to have documents that are directly relevant – such documents likely to exist and would assist prospective applicant in making a decision about whether to commence a proceeding – discretionary considerations for refusing relief under r 7.23(2) – relevance of court documents being allegedly leaked to media – orders made for preliminary discovery of documents pending agreement or determination of appropriate categories
Legislation:	Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth), s 15AC Australian Consumer Law being Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), s 18 Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth), ss 12, 36, 41C Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), ss 119, 124, 1378 Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth), s 39B(1A)(c) Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth), rr 7.23, 7.29
Cases cited:	Australian Building and Construction Commissioner v Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (The Constitution Place Case) [2020] FCA 1070 Australian Solar Mesh Sales Ltd v Anderson [2000] FCA 864; 101 FCR 1 Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union known as The Australian Manufacturing Union (AMWU) v BR & I Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1498 BCI Media Group Pty Ltd v Corelogic Australia Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1556 BHP Billiton Iron Ore v The National Competition Council [2007] FCAFC 157; 162 FCR 234 Bramco Electronics Pty Ltd v ATF Mining Electrics Pty Ltd [2013] NSWCA 392; 86 NSWLR 115 Burns v Corbett [2018] HCA 15; 265 CLR 304 Clarence City Council v Commonwealth of Australia [2020] FCAFC 134; 382 ALR 273 Cromwell Corporation Limited v ARA Real Estate Investors XXI Pte Ltd [2020] FCA 1492 Crosby v Kelly [2012] FCAFC 96; 203 FCR 451 Davidson v Suncorp-Metway Limited (No 3) [2020] FCA 1593 Essential Energy v Rose [2020] FCA 722; 145 ACSR 106 Eureka Funds Management Ltd v Freehills Services Pty Ltd [2008] VSCA 156; 19 VR 676 Fencott v Muller [1983] HCA 12; 152 CLR 570 Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture Pty Ltd v HTC Trading Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 684 Hafertepen v Network Ten Pty Limited [2020] FCA 1456 HQ Insurance Pty Limited v Stonehatch Risk Solutions Limited (No 2) [2020] FCA 1010, 146 ACSR 159 LNC Industries v BMW (Australia) Ltd [1983] HCA 31; 151 CLR 575 Macteldir Pty Ltd v Dimovski [2005] FCA 1528; 226 ALR 773 Manolo Blahnik Worldwide Limited v Estro Concept Pty Limited [2020] FCA 1561 Minister for Health and Aged Care v Harrington Associates Ltd [1999] FCA 549 Mobil Oil Australia Ltd & McDonalds Australia Ltd v Guina Developments Pty Ltd [1996] 2 VR 34 Nalini Asher Enterprises Pty Ltd v H&M Tracey Construction Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 2161 ObjectiVision Pty Ltd v Visionsearch Pty Ltd [2014] FCA 1087; 108 IPR 244 Oliver v Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 583 Optiver Australia Pty Ltd v Tibra Trading Pty Ltd [2008] FCAFC 133; 169 FCR 435 Outback Stores Pty Ltd v Smith [2020] FCA 1785 Paxus Services Ltd v People Bank Pty Ltd [1990] FCA 723; 99 ALR 728 Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals v Samsung Bioepis AU Pty Ltd [2017] FCAFC 193; 257 FCR 62 Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals v Sandoz Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 1648; 158 IPR 1 Poole v Australian Pacific Touring Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 424 R v Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration; Ex parte Barrett [1945] HCA 50; 70 CLR 141 Reeve v Aqualast Pty Ltd [2012] FCA 679 RNB Equities Pty Ltd v Credit Suisse Investment Services (Australia) Limited [2019] FCA 760, 370 ALR 88 Rush v Commissioner of Police [2006] FCA 12; 150 FCR 165 Shepherd v Felt and Textiles of Australia Ltd [1931] HCA 21; 45 CLR 359 St George Bank Ltd v Rabo Australia Ltd [2004] FCA 1360, 211 ALR 147 Telstra Corporation Ltd v Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy [2008] FCAFC 7; 166 FCR 64 Williams v Spautz [1992] HCA 34; 174 CLR 509
Division:	General Division
Registry:	Victoria
National Practice Area:	Commercial and Corporations
Sub-area:	Commercial Contracts, Banking, Finance and Insurance
Number of paragraphs:	185
Date of hearing:	15-16 March 2021
Counsel for the Prospective Applicant:	Mr D. Thomas SC with Mr H. Atkin
Solicitor for the Prospective Applicant:	Atanaskovic Hartnell
Counsel for the Prospective Respondent:	Mr J. Gleeson QC with Mr A. Dinelli
Solicitor for the Prospective Respondent:	K&L Gates

ORDERS

		VID 764 of 2020
BETWEEN:	SEVEN NETWORK (OPERATIONS) LIMITED (ACN 65 052 845 262) Prospective Applicant
AND:	CRICKET AUSTRALIA (ACN 53 006 089 130) Prospective Respondent

order made by:	ANASTASSIOU J
DATE OF ORDER:	27 August 2021

THE...