Redglove Projects Pty Ltd v Ngunnawal Local Aboriginal Land Council (No 2) [2005] NSWSC 1048

Redglove Projects Pty Ltd v Ngunnawal Local Aboriginal Land Council (No 2) [2005] NSWSC 1048

The plaintiff's claim was dismissed and equitable relief would not have been granted even if a binding contract existed, because the DMDA and related joint venture arrangements were objectively most unfair to the first defendant, involved substantial undervaluation of its land, and were entered into without truly independent legal advice while the plaintiff had ingratiated itself with the Land Council's chair. The payments and Consultancy Agreement were not bribes in the technical legal sense because they were not secret, although the conduct supported refusal of equitable enforcement. The second defendant's costs were to lie where they fell because the proceeding was essentially a...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
19 October 2005
Procedural Posture
Equity Division Proceeding Concerning a Joint Venture and Specific Performance Type Relief / Final Orders and Additional Reasons After Earlier Reasons Delivered on 6 September 2005
Outcome
The plaintiff's claim was dismissed; the plaintiff was ordered to deliver up title documents and pay the first defendant's costs; no order was made as to the second defendant's costs except that Windeyer J's previous costs order was to stand.
Legal Topics
['specific Performance' 'unfair Bargain' 'bribery' 'conflict of Interest' 'joinder' 'costs Orders' 'local Aboriginal Land Council Joint Venture']
['equity' 'contract Law' 'civil Procedure' 'costs' 'criminal Law'] ['specific Performance' 'unfair Bargain' 'bribery' 'conflict of Interest' 'joinder' 'costs Orders' 'local Aboriginal Land Council Joint Venture']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Equity Division Proceeding Concerning a Joint Venture and Specific Performance Type Relief / Final Orders and Additional Reasons After Earlier Reasons Delivered on 6 September 2005

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether payments made by Mr Burke to Mrs House and the Consultancy Agreement between Redglove and Mrs House constituted bribes.' 'Whether, if there had been a binding contract, equitable relief would be refused because the bargain was unfair, involved substantial undervalue, and was entered into without sufficient independent advice.' 'Whether the second defendant should receive its costs after being joined to proceedings that were essentially a specific performance suit.' "What final orders should be made following dismissal of the plaintiff's claim."]

Ratio Decidendi

The plaintiff's claim was dismissed and equitable relief would not have been granted even if a binding contract existed, because the DMDA and related joint venture arrangements were objectively most unfair to the first defendant, involved substantial undervaluation of its land, and were entered into without truly independent legal advice while the plaintiff had ingratiated itself with the Land Council's chair. The payments and Consultancy Agreement were not bribes in the technical legal sense because they were not secret, although the conduct supported refusal of equitable enforcement. The second defendant's costs were to lie where they fell because the proceeding was essentially a...

Court Disposition

The plaintiff's claim was dismissed; the plaintiff was ordered to deliver up title documents and pay the first defendant's costs; no order was made as to the second defendant's costs except that Windeyer J's previous costs order was to stand.

Orders

  • ["The plaintiff's claim is dismissed." 'The plaintiff is to deliver up to the first defendant any certificate of title or other evidence of title to any land of the first defendant in its possession or control.' "The plaintiff is to pay the first defendant's costs of the claim and cross-claim to date." "No order as...