AZO24 v Registrar, Registry of New South Wales, Federal Court of Australia (No 2)

In AZO24 v Registrar, Registry of New South Wales, the Federal Court of Australia heard an application for judicial review of the Registrar’s decision to refuse to accept documents for filing. The application arose from a previous refusal by the Registrar to accept an application for judicial review of the decision to refuse leave to appeal a judgment. The applicant sought to re-open the leave to appeal application and to stay the primary proceedings, among other relief. The Registrar refused to accept the documents on the basis that the application was an abuse of process and frivolous and vexatious.

The legal issues before the Court included whether the Registrar’s decision was subject to judicial review, whether the power to vary or set aside an order of the Court under r 39.04 required the Court to do so in the circumstances, and whether there were exceptional circumstances to justify varying or setting aside the order. The Court considered whether the applicant had demonstrated grounds for review and whether the Registrar’s decision was an abuse of process or frivolous and vexatious. The Court noted that the relief sought in the application was unlikely to succeed and that there was no basis for re-opening the leave to appeal application which had already been finally determined.

The Court held that the Registrar’s decision was not subject to judicial review and that the applicant had not demonstrated grounds for review. The Court found that the Registrar was entitled to refuse to accept the documents on the basis that the application was an abuse of process and frivolous and vexatious. The Court further held that the power to vary or set aside an order of the Court under r 39.04 did not require the Court to do so in the absence of exceptional circumstances. The Court dismissed the application for judicial review and directed the Registry not to accept the interlocutory application for filing.

The Court ordered that the Registry be directed not to accept the interlocutory application dated 27 August 2024 for filing pursuant to r 2.27(e) of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) and that the application for judicial review filed on 18 July 2024 is dismissed.