Hampouris v Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Limited

The parties in this case were Hampouris, the plaintiff, and Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Limited, the defendant. The dispute arose from an incident at a Coles supermarket where the plaintiff was injured. The matter was heard in the District Court of New South Wales. The plaintiff had initially filed a statement of claim against the defendant, but the proceedings were dismissed by the Registrar due to the plaintiff's non-appearance at a case management conference. The dismissal occurred because the proceedings had been served to an outdated address, and the plaintiff was unaware of the non-appearance and the subsequent dismissal. The plaintiff subsequently applied to set aside the orders made by the Registrar and to reinstate the proceedings.

The legal issues before the court were whether the plaintiff's application to set aside the orders and reinstate the proceedings should be granted and whether the defendant would be prejudiced by the extension of time for service of the statement of claim. The court had to consider the principles of procedural fairness, the blamelessness of the plaintiff, and whether a fair trial could still be held. The court also needed to determine if the defendant would suffer any prejudice if the plaintiff's application was successful.

The court found that the plaintiff was blameless for the non-appearance and the dismissal of the proceedings. The plaintiff had taken personal steps to pursue the matter once the statement of claim was filed. The court also held that the defendant was not prejudiced by the extension of time for service of the statement of claim and that a fair trial could still be held. The court granted the plaintiff's application to set aside the orders made by the Registrar and reinstated the proceedings. The court further extended the time for the defendant to file a defence and ordered that the matter be listed for further case management.