Davies v Noosa Cat (Australia) Pty Ltd

Davies, the applicant, brought proceedings against Noosa Cat (Australia) Pty Ltd, the respondent, in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The nature of the dispute pertains to the applicant's application to have an order of the registrar to appoint a cost assessor varied to replace the cost assessor on the basis of apprehended bias. The applicant argued that the cost assessor had shown signs of bias in the proceedings, and therefore, it was necessary to replace them.

The legal issues the court was required to decide were whether the applicant had established grounds for the variation of the registrar's order to appoint a cost assessor, and whether the court had the discretion to vary the order under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules. The court considered the relevant provisions of the Rules, including r 366(2), r 367(1), r 668, and r 713(2), as well as relevant case law such as Ebner v Official Trustee in Bankruptcy, Lessbrook v Whap & Ors, Sirius Shipping Corporation v The Ship 'Sunrise', and Willis v Edgar.

The court held that the applicant had not established grounds for the variation of the registrar's order to appoint a cost assessor. The court found that the applicant had not shown that the cost assessor had acted in a way that demonstrated bias or that the cost assessor's conduct had given rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias. The court also held that it did not have the discretion to vary the order under the Rules. The court found that the relevant provisions of the Rules did not provide for the variation of an order appointing a cost assessor on the basis of apprehended bias, and that such a variation would not be in the interests of justice.

In conclusion, the applicant's application to have the registrar's order to appoint a cost assessor varied was dismissed. The court did not make any orders as to costs.