Downey v Acting District Court Judge Boulton (No 6)

The applicant, Downey, sought judicial review of a decision made by Acting District Court Judge Boulton (No 6). The dispute concerned an application for additional costs made pursuant to the "slip rule," which did not raise any issue of principle. The matter was heard by Allsop P, Basten, and Macfarlan JJA in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether to uphold or set aside the order for additional costs made by the primary judge. This involved considering the application of the slip rule and whether the circumstances warranted the making of such an order.

The Court of Appeal found that the primary judge had correctly applied the slip rule to correct an error in the original costs order. The court reasoned that the slip rule exists to allow for the correction of obvious errors or omissions in judgments or orders, and that the error in this instance fell within the scope of that rule. Consequently, the court dismissed the applicant's challenge to the additional costs order.

The Court of Appeal ordered that the applicant pay the fourth respondent's costs of the proceedings and the costs of the Notice of Motion filed on 24 September 2010.