Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia v State Bank of New South Wales

The Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia sought an expedited hearing of an appeal against the decisions of Lockhart J. in the Federal Court of Australia. Lockhart J. had made certain declarations and orders, and the respondents, the State Bank of New South Wales and the State of New South Wales, opposed the application for expedition. The appeal was significant and involved important issues, but the court was unable to provide an earlier hearing due to its current commitments. The court also noted that there were two other matters still pending before Lockhart J., including a motion for judgment on a cross-claim and a hearing of matters in dispute. Given the circumstances, the appeal was stood over to the call over towards the middle of December for the February sittings of the Full Court of the Court.

The court considered the legal issues involved in the appeal, including whether the declarations and orders were of an interlocutory nature and whether there was a right to appeal against them. The court also considered the motion of incompetence put on by the State of New South Wales. The court decided that these issues were best left to a Full Court, and the appeal and the application for leave to appeal should be heard together. The court also rejected a notice of motion by the State Bank of New South Wales for an order that the hearing of any appeal be stayed until after judgment by Lockhart J. on the remaining issues for trial.

The court concluded that the application for expedition should be dismissed, but the costs of each motion should be costs in the appeal. The appeal was stood over to the call over towards the middle of December for the February sittings of the Full Court of the Court, and the application for leave to appeal was to be made to a Full Court at the same time as the appeal itself. The court granted an extension of time to file the application for leave until Friday, 20 September.