The Federal Court of Australia has granted Stantec New Zealand leave to serve legal documents on the Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) in connection with a multimillion-dollar international arbitration case.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Micharl Feutrill on 17 September 2025, paves the way for a full hearing next month and sets a legal precedent involving cross-border enforcement of arbitral awards.
The case stems from a final arbitral award issued in January 2022, in which FRA was ordered to pay Stantec over $10.4 million and additional arbitration-related costs in Fijian, New Zealand, and US dollars.
The dispute arose under a consultancy agreement signed in 2016 for road development works in Fiji.
Although FRA has yet to file a formal notice of address for service in Australia, the court accepted that Stantec had already served the originating application and supporting documents in accordance with Fijian law, specifically by delivering them to FRA’s chairman in Suva.
The court ruled that such service was consistent with Fiji’s High Court Rules, which allow personal service on a body corporate via its chairman or principal officer.
Justice Feutrill noted that while foreign states and their entities often enjoy immunity under Australian law, the Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 contains exceptions—particularly when enforcement of commercial arbitration awards is involved.
“It is reasonably arguable that the Authority is not immune from the jurisdiction of the Court,” the judge stated.
The final hearing of the case is scheduled for 17 October 2025, during which the Australian court will consider whether to proceed with enforcement actions against FRA.
