Arida v Arida (No 2)

The case of *Arida v Arida (No 2)* concerned an appeal before the New South Wales Court of Appeal, constituted by Bathurst CJ, Macfarlan JA, and Sackville AJA. The dispute arose after an initial court order requiring the respondent to pay a sum of money to the appellants was set aside on appeal. The central issue was whether the respondent was liable to pay interest on the amount that was originally paid pursuant to the now-vacated court order.

The primary legal question before the Court of Appeal was whether interest was payable on a sum of money that had been paid by the respondent to the appellants under a court order that was subsequently set aside on appeal. This involved considering the principles governing the repayment of funds where the original basis for their payment no longer stood.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that where an order for payment is set aside on appeal, the party who made the payment is entitled to recover that sum. In this context, the Court determined that interest should accrue on the portion of the repaid sum that was effectively held by the appellants from the date the original order was effectively discharged until the date of repayment. The Court applied the principles of restitution and the statutory provisions for the award of interest, specifically referencing s 101 of the *Civil Procedure Act 2005* (NSW) for the calculation of the interest rate. The Court ordered that the original orders be set aside and that the respondent pay the appellants the sum of $497,804.27, along with interest on a specified portion of that sum from 11 July 2015 until payment. The Court also made orders regarding the costs of the various motions and appeals, and granted the respondent a certificate under the *Suitors’ Fund Act 1951* (NSW).