Ajam and Asfour & Anor

In the matter of *Ajam and Asfour & Anor*, Williams J of the Family Court of Australia considered an application for "special costs" and the consequences of non-compliance with court orders. The dispute concerned the applicant's failure to comply with previous orders, which had led to a situation where her Initiating Application was subject to dismissal if certain conditions were not met.

The central legal issues before the court were the interpretation and application of rules 11.02 and 11.03 of the *Family Law Rules 2004* concerning the filing of an amended application and the payment of costs. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the applicant could proceed with filing an Amended Application and what the consequences would be if she failed to comply with the conditions attached to that liberty.

Williams J reasoned that the applicant was granted liberty to file an Amended Application, but this liberty was expressly conditional upon her paying the respondents' costs fixed at $13,936 by a specified date. The court made it clear that the Amended Application would not be accepted for filing by the registry unless these costs were paid. The court further ordered that if the applicant failed to file the Amended Application by the stipulated deadline, her original Initiating Application would be automatically dismissed.