JOHNSTON & PRITCHARD

In the matter of *Johnston & Pritchard*, heard by Judge Coker, the dispute concerned parenting arrangements for a child, X, born in 2006. The Mother had filed an Initiating Application on 31 January 2014, which the Father opposed.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the Mother's application for parenting orders should be dismissed and whether the Mother should be restrained from initiating further proceedings concerning the child's parenting without prior leave of the Court. The Court was also required to determine the Father's costs of the proceedings.

Judge Coker dismissed the Mother's Initiating Application. The Court reasoned that it was appropriate to restrain the Mother from initiating further proceedings without leave, indicating a pattern of litigation that was no longer in the child's best interests. The Court ordered that the Mother pay the Father's costs of and incidental to the proceedings, with a detailed process outlined for the assessment of those costs should the parties be unable to agree on the quantum.