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SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Appeal Court backs liquidators’ power to claw back payments made by an insolvent company

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The Court of Appeal has backed liquidators’ power to claw back payments made by an insolvent company up to two years before its collapse.

Three High Court decisions last year undid a commonly held belief about voidable transactions, where a liquidator can order a creditor to repay money received from a troubled firm.

The voidable transaction process is designed to prevent creditor queue jumping. A creditor can defend against a claim if it can prove it acted in good faith in accepting the payment, had no reason to suspect the business it was trading with was in trouble and gave value for the funds received.

The High Court ruled a creditor should not be disadvantaged just because it provided its services before being paid, as many suppliers did.

The High Court decisions meant voidable transactions would be virtually unenforceable and so appeals were lodged.

Source: Fairfax NZ

Maria Slade. Business Day 30 March 2013. www.stuff.co.nz

For further details see:

Interim Judgment of the Court of Appeal dated 27 March 2013.

Farrell and Rogan as Liquidators of Contact Engineering Ltd v. Fences & Kerbs Limited

CA 773/2012 [2013] NZCA 91

Given  by P. Randerson J.

Hearing date 7 February 2013

O’Regan, P. Randerson, and French JJ

http://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/front-page/cases/farrell-and-rogan-as-liquidators-of-contact-engineering-limited-v-fences-kerbs-limited

Registered charity challenges Court of Appeal’s child porn ruling

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Stop Demand Foundation, a registered charity (CC 30599) with the Charities Commission, has attacked a Court of Appeal decision granting name suppression to a 50-year old Manawatu man found guilty of possessing images of child rape. The charity’s founder, Denise Ritchie, who was interviewed on TV One’s Breakfast programme about the matter this morning, says the Court’s decision is a blow to child rape victims in New Zealand and to lobby groups like hers around the world fighting sexual violence against children.

The Manawatu man, who admitted 21 charges of possessing objectionable material, was sentenced to six months home detention and fined $5250 at the end of last year.

In a decision only made public yesterday, the Court of Appeal ruled that his name should be kept completely secret to protect his family members.

Ms Ritchie, who has read and studied the decision, pointed out on TV One’s Breakfast programme that the convicted man has not lived with or had close association with any of the “family members” whose reputations and privacy the Court of Appeal Judges have sought to protect. She argues that granting name suppression to the offender merely to protect the reputation of these people sets a dangerous precedent. [Read more…]

Court of Appeal – Unborn children do not have a right to life

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 Media Release – Right to Life NZ Inc. – 3 June 2011

Unborn children do not have a right to life according to a decision of the Court of Appeal. The Judges were Justice Chambers, Stevens and Arnold. Our counsel presented to the Court  a detailed submission in support of the recognition of the humanity and right to life of unborn children. The Court in its judgment did not address the substance of this submission holding this  to be not  necessary. This decision in this respect has upheld the decision of Justice Miller made in the High Court in 2008. The judgment upholds section 159 of the Crimes Act 1961, which decrees that an unborn child does not become a human being until it is born. [Read more…]