Houghton v Arms

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAGLEESON CJGUMMOW, HAYNE, HEYDON AND CRENNAN JJJAMES HOUGHTON AND ANOR    APPELLANTSANDSIMON ARMS  RESPONDENTHoughton v Arms[2006] HCA 5913 December 2006M107/2006ORDERAppeal dismissed with costs.On appeal from the Federal Court of AustraliaRepresentationD J O'Callaghan SC with M D Rush for the appellants (instructed by Deacons) P J Riordan SC with D W Bennett for the respondent (instructed by Middletons)D R Williams QC with S Bhojani for the Director of Consumer Affairs of Victoria appearing as amicus (instructed by Department of Justice)Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSHoughton v ArmsTrade practices − Misleading or deceptive conduct in trade or commerce – Where appellant employees of a corporation made misleading or deceptive statements to respondent in the course of their employment − Where the corporation was sued for contravention of s 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) ("the Commonwealth Act") by reason of the conduct of the appellants − Where the appellants were also sued for contravention of s 9 of the Fair Trading Act 1999 (Vic) ("the State Act") − Whether each appellant was a "person" for the purposes of s 9 of the State Act − Whether conduct of each appellant was "in trade or commerce" for the purposes of s 9 of the State Act.Statutes − Statutory construction − Construction of s 9 of the State Act − Where the Commonwealth Act and the State Act have concurrent and overlapping operation −...