1st Fleet Pty Ltd (in liq) v Transms Pty Ltd

The applicant, 1st Fleet Pty Ltd (in liq), sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against an order of the District Court of New South Wales made on 2 March 2017. The District Court order had granted an adjournment of ongoing proceedings between the parties.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether leave to appeal should be granted against the District Court's decision to adjourn the trial. This involved considering whether the applicant's assertion of wasted costs was a sufficient basis for granting leave, and more broadly, whether it was otherwise appropriate to grant leave to appeal an interlocutory order of adjournment.

Basten and Payne JJA determined that the applicant's challenge to the adjournment was futile, as the adjournment had already been effected. They reasoned that the applicant had not demonstrated any error in the District Court's exercise of its discretion to grant the adjournment, nor had it established that the adjournment would cause irreparable prejudice. The Court concluded that the applicant's expenditure of costs was not a sufficient ground to justify granting leave to appeal an interlocutory decision of this nature.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal refused leave to appeal from the District Court's orders and ordered that the applicant pay the respondent's costs in the Court of Appeal.