Avery v Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages

The applicant, Avery, sought leave to appeal against interlocutory orders made by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The application for leave to appeal was brought before McColl and Basten JJA of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. The core of the dispute concerned allegations of bias on the part of the Registrar and a failure to grant Avery an oral hearing.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether to grant leave to appeal against the interlocutory orders. A key consideration was whether the application for leave had any practical utility, given that the matter had already been resolved by final orders. The Court also had to consider the availability of alternative avenues for Avery to pursue his grounds of complaint.

McColl and Basten JJA reasoned that the application for leave to appeal lacked utility because the grounds of alleged bias and failure to grant an oral hearing could be raised in a challenge to the final orders. The Court noted that the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide mechanisms for setting aside and varying judgments and orders, including time limits for such applications. Consequently, the Court concluded that it was not appropriate to grant leave to appeal against the interlocutory orders.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.