GR v The Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice

In GR v The Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice, the Court of Appeal of New South Wales considered an application to vary a final judgment in care proceedings. The applicant sought to transfer a notice of motion, filed on 29 July 2021, to the Equity Division of the Supreme Court. The Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice, was the first respondent, and the Children's Guardian was the second respondent.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the notice of motion, which sought to vary a final judgment, should be transferred to the Equity Division. This involved determining the appropriate procedural pathway for such an application within the Supreme Court's jurisdiction, particularly in the context of care proceedings which are typically dealt with in specific divisions.

Gleeson JA dismissed the notice of motion. The reasoning focused on the procedural impropriety of seeking to transfer the motion to the Equity Division. The Court determined that the application as framed was not appropriately brought before the Court of Appeal for transfer, and that the correct avenue for seeking variation of a final judgment would lie elsewhere, not through a transfer of this nature to the Equity Division. The Court found that the notice of motion was misconceived in its attempt to initiate a transfer process to the Equity Division.

Consequently, the Court ordered that the notice of motion filed on 29 July 2021 be dismissed. Furthermore, the applicant was ordered to pay the costs of the first and second respondents in relation to the motion.