Kelly v Mosman Municipal Council

In *Kelly v Mosman Municipal Council*, the Court of Appeal considered the effect of a "self-executing order" made by Young JA on 5 March 2012, which dismissed the appeal unless certain procedural steps were taken within a specified time. The appellant had failed to comply with these requirements.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether it retained any power to make further orders in the litigation, given that the appeal had been automatically determined by the self-executing order due to non-compliance with its terms.

Campbell JA reasoned that once the time for compliance with the self-executing order expired without the required steps being taken, the appeal was no longer pending before the court. The order had operated to bring the appeal to a regular end. Consequently, the Court of Appeal had no power to make further orders in proceedings that had already been concluded by the operation of the earlier order. The court noted that the dismissal of the proceedings pursuant to Young JA's order constituted the "determination of the appeal" for the purposes of a previously ordered stay, which had therefore terminated. The court also directed that no further documents be accepted for filing without prior leave.