Thursday, continued ...Once Anna was settled in the sitting room of the suite attached to Hou Yi"s office she removed her laptop from its bag, turned it on and connected to the CEO"s intranet. Once she was connected, she remotely logged into ANX"s legal software and located the new file for her.
Anna could not have imagined a week ago, she would be drafting an affidavit about her relations.h.i.+p with Lu Jinhu, as she had done for many clients in the past. How quickly had things changed. Unlike those client affidavit"s she was not going to have to edit the material. That would be Alfred"s job, given he was the a.s.signed lawyer for her matter.
She opened an Affidavit, took a few deep breaths and started to type, treating it no differently than a number of affidavits she had done in the past.
In her mind she set out the process that she needed to follow: set out personal details; the relations.h.i.+p information; what Lu Jinhu had done; and confirming the elements she needed to prove, i.e. that the signature on the original orders was not her signature.
[start of affidavit text]
My Name is Anna Hou. My maiden name, and the name I use professionally is Anna Jones. My date of birth is detailed on the application filed with this affidavit and I am 26 years of age. I am an Australian Legal Pract.i.tioner. I am the appellant in this application.
The respondent in this appeal is Lu Jinhu, who was born in Country X, but has recently obtained Australian Citizens.h.i.+p. His personal details are on the application filed with this affidavit and he is aged 28 years of age. I do not know the date he obtained such citizens.h.i.+p, but he advised me on the Tuesday prior to the signing of this Affidavit of this fact. I am not certain whether his obtaining of Australian Citizens.h.i.+p automatically cancelled his citizens.h.i.+p of Country X.
Lu Jinhu and I were in a de facto relations.h.i.+p for approximately 5 years, commencing approximately 4 months of my commencement of employment with ANX Lawyers, which as on [Note – ALFRED you need to confirm the exact date of my commencement of employment with HR to add this date]. This firm remains my current employers.
[knock, knock] Anna"s work was interrupted, and Hou Yi came in, carrying a tray. "Anna the food I arranged for you has arrived. Please try and eat something and send me a message when you finish doing what you need to. I"ll try and end the meeting as soon as I can, so we can return home." With that he put the tray down and left the room.
[returning to Anna"s work typing the affidavit]
Lu Jinhu and I had become engaged to marry approximately 10 months ago. We agreed to obtain our marriage certificate in Country X. The reason for this, was based on information Lu Jinhu told me, regarding his parents inability to travel to Australia. It was further agreed that we would have a formal wedding ceremony in Australia after this occurred. On the Tuesday prior to the signing of this affidavit I found out the reason behind agreeing to a wedding ceremony in Country X was a lie. Lu Jinhu"s parents frequently engage in business travel, regarding the family company Lu Corporation, while being headquartered in Country X, has projects throughout the world.
Approximately 6 months ago I commenced questioning my relations.h.i.+p with Lu Jinhu, but I had decided that as I had given my commitment to him, I would stand by my word.
However, a few days before our intended marriage date (which I further discuss in this affidavit), I knew that I would not be able to marry Lu Jinhu. I had not been able to communicate this fact to him, until just before our intended marriage time on the Tuesday before the swearing of this affidavit.
On the Tuesday before the swearing of this affidavit, I can confirm in City T, in Country X, Lu Jinhu married a Miss Yang Lin, a citizen of Country X. On the same day I married a Mr Hou Yi, also a citizen of Country X.
I definitely, and if Lu Jinhu"s obtaining of Australia Citizens.h.i.+p cancelled his citizens.h.i.+p of Country X, due to the operation of Law in both Australia and in Country X, automatically on marriage became a citizen of Country X.
Presently, I only have an Australian Pa.s.sport, but I am due to the obtaining of my citizens.h.i.+p in Country X, in the process of obtaining a pa.s.sport and other ident.i.ty doc.u.ments issued in that country. My address in Country X, is [Note – ALFRED I will get the correct address details to you].
I have been informed by my husband Hou Yi, that the most likely residential address for Lu Jinhu in Country X is [Note – ALFRED I will get this as well – likely given his location we may have to argue with the court for subst.i.tuted service]