Case: Australian Consolidated Press Ltd v Morgan [1965] HCA 21 ; (1965) 112 CLR 483
Outcome: referred to
It is trite law that injunctive orders of the Court "should be granted in clear and unambiguous terms which leave no room for the persons to whom they are directed to wonder whether or not their future conduct falls within the scope or boundaries of the injunction: see ICA Australia Operations Pty Ltd v Trade Practices Commission (1992) 38 FCR 248 at 259 per Lockhart J, with whom Gummow and French JJ agreed. What is not as clear is what is comprehended, in the context, by the word "unambiguous" and what consequences flow from a finding of ambiguity if it is sought to enforce an order in proceedings for contempt. In Australian Consolidated Press Ltd v Morgan [1965] HCA 21 ; (1965) 112 CLR 483 the appellant contended that, unless the language of an undertaking was unambiguous and certain, it should not be enforced by contempt proceedings. This submission was rejected by the Court. Barwick CJ said (at 492): "If the order or undertaking is so expressed as to be meaningless, there is of course nothing which can be enforced. But, if it bears a meaning which the Court is satisfied is one which ought fairly to have been in the contemplation of the person to whom the order was directed or who gave the undertaking as a possible meaning, the fact that that meaning results from a process of construction and involves a choice of possible meanings does not, in my opinion, preclude the Court from enforcing the order or undertaking in the sense in which the Court assigns to it. If the Court is satisfied that the party said to be in contempt bona fide believed himself bound only by a construction which the Court thinks to be erroneous, it may for that reason, in its discretion, refuse to make an order or, if it makes an order, refuse to make an order for costs against that party. But, even in such a case, the enforcement of the plaintiff's rights must not be left out of account. A party who has bona fide acted on erroneous view of an order or undertaking may, according to the circumstances, nonetheless be justly adjudged guilty of contempt in procedure. In my opinion, this is equally so where, because of its terms or circumstances, the order or undertaking requires construction in order to determine its meaning and will move ambiguities patent or latent." 48 In Universal Music Branson J (with whom Lindgren and Finkelstein JJ agreed), having referred to Morgan and a number of older authorities, concluded (at 119-120) that: "...the authorities discussed above reveal that an injunction is not rendered invalid, or incapable of founding a charge of contempt, merely because it leaves a respondent with room to wonder whether future conduct falls within it. At least where the true construction of the order is one which ought fairly to have been in the contemplation of the person to whom the order was directed ... the Court which entertains the charge of contempt will be required to determine that construction. Of course, it may be highly relevant to the question of punishment that a respondent failed to comply with the order because he, she or it placed a construction on the order that was not its true construction."