Douglas v Madden (No 3)

In the case of Douglas v Madden, the plaintiffs sought to vary a self-executing order that had been made in relation to proceedings between the parties. The dispute involved a disagreement over a contract and arose in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The plaintiffs, Douglas, sought to vary the order on the basis that there had been a short delay in complying with the order due to an error made by their representative.

The court was required to determine whether the delay in compliance was justified and whether the error made by the representative constituted a sufficient ground for varying the order. The legal issues centered around the interpretation of the self-executing order, the consequences of the delay in compliance, and the effect of the representative's error on the plaintiffs' ability to comply with the order.

The court found that the delay in compliance was not significant and that the error made by the representative was a genuine mistake. The court held that the plaintiffs had not acted in bad faith and that there were sufficient grounds to vary the order. The court considered the circumstances of the case and the need for flexibility in the enforcement of court orders. The court varied the order to accommodate the delay and set aside the costs associated with the application to vary the order.