Gladio Pty Ltd v Buckworth

Gladio Pty Ltd (the applicant) sought leave to appeal from a decision of the primary judge concerning costs in proceedings where it had claimed a declaration that a contract had been validly rescinded. The primary judge had ordered that each party bear their own costs, despite the applicant's success in the proceedings below.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the continuation of the proceedings in the Supreme Court was warranted, given that the District Court, where the matter may have originated, lacked jurisdiction to make the declaration sought. Further issues included whether the applicant's ground of denial of procedural fairness had sufficient prospects of success, particularly as the costs issue was decided on the papers, and whether any substantial injustice had resulted from the primary judge's orders. The court also considered whether, if it re-exercised its discretion, there was a real prospect of a substantial costs order in favour of the applicant or a different outcome regarding a Bullock order.

The Court of Appeal found that the applicant had not demonstrated any substantial injustice resulting from the primary judge's costs orders. The court concluded that there was no real prospect that a different outcome concerning costs, including a Bullock order, would have been achieved even if the Court of Appeal had re-exercised the discretion.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.