Australian Court Stops Class Action From Obtaining US Courts' Assistance For Oral Depositions

Key Points

• By way of anti-suit injunctions against the applicant and a class member in class action proceedings, the Federal Court has restrained parties from making formal applications pursuant to 28 USC § 1782 to gather evidence through oral discovery in US District Courts.
• Parties to Australian proceedings should be wary of using foreign procedures to gather evidence without the Australian court's prior knowledge and consent, in particular where the court has a particular supervisory role (such as in class actions) that may be undermined by an application in a foreign jurisdiction.

Background

In Jones v Treasury Wine Estates Limited [2016] FCAFC 59, Justices Gilmour, Foster and Beach were required to rule on an interlocutory application in class action proceedings filed by the respondent, Treasury Wine Estates ("TWE"), seeking orders in the nature of anti-suit injunctions in relation to US proceedings against the applicant, Jones, and a member of