Botany Bay City Council v Minister for Local Government (No 2)

In *Botany Bay City Council v Minister for Local Government (No 2)*, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales considered an application by the appellant for an order that each party bear their own costs of the appeal proceedings. The respondents opposed this application, seeking the usual order that the appellant pay their costs.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether it should depart from the usual order for costs, which would typically see the unsuccessful party pay the successful party's costs, and instead make no order as to costs. This required the Court to consider the relevance of the "public interest" and the "clarification of the law" in determining the appropriate costs order, particularly in circumstances where the appellant sought to bear its own costs.

The Court reasoned that while the clarification of the law and public interest considerations can, in exceptional circumstances, justify a departure from the usual costs order, these factors were not sufficiently compelling in this instance to warrant such a departure. The Court noted that the appellant had been unsuccessful in the appeal and that the usual order for costs was therefore appropriate. Consequently, the Court dismissed the appellant's application for no order as to costs and ordered the appellant to pay the respondents' costs of that application, confirming the earlier order that the appellant pay the respondents' costs of the appeal.