Campbell v Hamilton

Campbell (applicant) sought to set aside orders made by the Court of Appeal. The dispute concerned allegations that the Court of Appeal's orders were made irregularly, unlawfully, or in bad faith, with a particular focus on whether procedural fairness had been denied. The matter was heard by Ward P, Mitchelmore and McHugh JJA.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the applicant had been denied procedural fairness. This arose from the applicant's contention that a judge had put a proposition of law to counsel during the proceedings without affording counsel an adequate opportunity to respond. The applicant argued this failure constituted a basis for setting aside the Court of Appeal's orders.

The Court of Appeal found no basis to set aside its previous orders. The judges reasoned that the judge's action of putting a proposition of law to counsel did not, in the circumstances, amount to a denial of procedural fairness. The court concluded that counsel had been afforded a sufficient opportunity to engage with the proposition, and therefore, the orders were not made irregularly, unlawfully, or in bad faith.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant's notices of motion filed on 25 February 2025 and 25 June 2025, and ordered the applicant to pay the respondents' costs of both notices of motion.