Ballard v Brookfield Australia Investments Ltd

In *Ballard v Brookfield Australia Investments Ltd*, the appellant sought to appeal a decision, and the respondents applied for security for their costs of the appeal. The central dispute concerned whether special circumstances existed to warrant the grant of security for costs, given the appellant's impecuniosity and the significant estimated costs of the appeal, which would involve re-litigating many of the legal and factual issues from the original hearing.

The court was required to determine whether the appellant's financial circumstances, coupled with the nature and anticipated cost of the appeal, constituted special circumstances justifying an order for security for costs. This involved assessing the risk that the respondents might face difficulty enforcing a costs judgment against the appellant should they be successful.

Ward JA reasoned that the appellant's impecuniosity, combined with the substantial nature of the appeal which sought to re-agitate almost all issues from the first instance hearing and the significant estimated costs, presented a sufficient risk to the respondents. The court found that these factors amounted to special circumstances warranting the grant of security for costs. Orders were made for the provision of security for the costs of the appeal in favour of the respective respondents.