El-Saeidy v NSW Land & Housing Corporation

In *El-Saeidy v NSW Land & Housing Corporation*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered the competence of an application for leave to appeal against decisions made by an Associate Judge. The dispute arose from an order requiring the respondent to conduct remediation work on the applicant's premises under a residential tenancy agreement. Following the entry of judgment regarding this remediation work, both parties sought further orders, and the Associate Judge dismissed the applicant's motion, declaring the respondent had complied with the remediation order. The applicant also sought leave to appeal against a Registrar's decision, upheld on review by the Associate Judge, which refused an adjournment and extension of time to file further submissions.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the application for leave to appeal was competent, particularly in light of the nature of the orders made by the Associate Judge. This involved considering whether the orders sought by the applicant after the initial judgment were ancillary or incidental to enforcement, and thus potentially interlocutory, or if they were final. The Court also had to assess whether the Associate Judge's refusal to allow late expert evidence deprived the applicant of a fair trial, considering the dictates of justice and case management principles.

The Court reasoned that the application for leave to appeal was not competent. It found that the orders sought by the applicant after the initial judgment were not final in nature, and therefore, an appeal as of right was not available. Furthermore, the Court determined that the Associate Judge's decisions, including the refusal of the adjournment and the exclusion of late expert evidence, were made in accordance with proper case management principles and did not prevent a just determination of the proceedings.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal dismissed the application for leave to appeal with costs. The respondent's notice of motion filed on 27 February 2014 was also dismissed with costs.