Germinario v Pinkerton (No 2) No. DCCIV-99-28

In the matter of Germinario v Pinkerton (No 2) No. DCCIV-99-28, the plaintiff, Germinario, sought an order for interest following the earlier decision of the court to award a lump sum of $75,000 in their favour. The dispute centred around the application for interest pursuant to s39(1) of the District Court Act 1991. The defendant, Pinkerton, argued against the award of interest, contending that the plaintiff's successful claim did not fall within a recognised category of relief where interest is payable, as per s30(c) of the Supreme Court Act 1935.

The court was required to determine whether there was sufficient reason to depart from the statutory provision for awarding interest. The defendant's counsel, Mr Howard, contended that the plaintiff's claim, being an adjustment of property under the De Facto Relationships Act 1996, did not warrant interest as it was not akin to a claim for damages or compensation. The plaintiff's counsel, Mr Heywood-Smith, argued that no good reason existed to deny interest, and that the court's discretion should be exercised to maintain the efficiency of case management as outlined in the Rules of Court.

Judge Anderson found that there was no difficulty in interpreting the statutory language, and that the plaintiff was entitled to an award of interest unless good reason was shown to the contrary. The court rejected the defendant's arguments regarding the nature of the claim and found no basis to depart from the statutory rates of interest. The judge determined that the delay in the proceedings did not justify denying interest, and fixed the amount at $7,000 as a lump sum.

The final order of the court was that the plaintiff, Germinario, was entitled to an additional $7,000 in interest, on top of the previously awarded lump sum of $75,000.