Killen v Rennie & 1 Ors

Case [2006] NSWCA 189



New South Wales


Court of Appeal


CITATION: Killen v Rennie & 1 Ors [2006] NSWCA 189
HEARING DATE(S): In Chambers
 
JUDGMENT DATE: 

14 July 2006
JUDGMENT OF: Mason P at 1; Santow JA at 1; Brownie AJA at 1
DECISION: ORDER that Order 3 made in proceedings No CA 40054/04 and CA 40044/04 by judgment dated 15 November 2005 be vacated and replaced with the following order: ; “The second respondent to pay the costs of the appellant and of the first respondent in this Court and in the court below but to have with respect to the former a certificate under the Suitors Fund Act 1951 if otherwise qualified.”
CATCHWORDS: VARIATION OF ORDER made in judgment [2005] NSWCA 392 dated 15 November 2005
LEGISLATION CITED: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, r36.17
PARTIES: Rosanne Lyle Fulton KILLEN (Appellant)
Kenneth John RENNIE (First Respondent)
AROONA DEVELOPMENTS PTY LIMITED (in liquidation) ACN 008 441 129 (Second Respondent)
FILE NUMBER(S): CA 40054/04; 40044/04
SOLICITORS: McKells Solicitors (Appellant)
Hugh & Associates (First Respondent)
Watson Mangioni (Second Respondent)



                          CA 40054/04
                          CA 40044/04

                          MASON P
                          SANTOW JA
                          BROWNIE AJA

                          14 JULY 2006
Rosanne Lyle Fulton KILLEN v Kenneth John RENNIE & 1 Ors
Judgment

1 THE COURT: In its judgment published on 15 November 2005, the Court made the following Order 3 in this matter:

          “The respondents to pay the appellant’s costs in this Court and in the court below but to have with respect to the former a certificate under the Suitors Fund Act 1951 if otherwise qualified.”

2 Following the handing down of this judgment, correspondence was received by the Court relating to an error in the terms of Order 3 on the basis that the first respondent, Mr Rennie, had not taken any part in the hearing of the appeal beyond submitting an appearance and that accordingly the costs order should only have been made against the second respondent. Mr Rennie was the liquidator of Rotor-Work Pty Ltd, a Killen family company, but had no position within the second respondent, Aroona Developments Pty Ltd.

3 The chronology of the key pieces of correspondence on this issue can be summarised as follows:


(a) Letter from Mr A E F Rofe AM, brother of the successful appellant, to the Associate to Justice Santow dated 1 March 2006;


(b) Faxed letter from Associate to Justice Santow to the solicitors for the parties (copied to Mr A E F Rofe AM) dated 9 March 2006 attaching the letter from Mr A E F Rofe;


(c) Letter from McKell’s to the Associate to Justice Santow dated 28 March 2006 with a second letter of that date correcting the first letter;


(d) Faxed letter from Watson Mangioni to the Associate to Justice Santow dated 30 March 2006;


(e) Faxed letter from Hugh & Associates to the Associate to Justice Santow dated 30 March 2006;


(f) Faxed letter from Mr B G L Killen (husband of the successful appellant) to the solicitors for the first and second respondents (copied to the Associate to Justice Santow) dated 5 April 2006 with a second letter dated 6 April 2006 correcting errors in the first letter;


(g) Faxed letter from Associate to Justice Santow to the solicitors for the parties (copied to Mr A E F Rofe and Mr B G L Killen) dated 7 April 2006;


(h) Letter from Mr B G L Killen to the Associate to Justice Santow dated 12 April 2006, attaching a copy of the legal costs of Ms Killen for the appeal;


(i) Faxed letter from Associate to Justice Santow to the solicitors for the parties dated 13 April 2006;


(j) Letter from Mr A E F Rofe AM to the Associate to Justice Santow dated 1 May 2006 withdrawing form the course of correspondence;


(k) Faxed letter from Watson Mangioni to the Associate to Justice Santow dated 19 May 2006.

4 In our opinion the oversight identified through this correspondence is sufficient to attract the exercise of the ‘slip rule’. Accordingly, this Court acts pursuant to Rule 36.17 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, as a consequence whereof the Court makes the following order:

          ORDER that Order 3 made in proceedings No CA 40054/04 and CA 40044/04 by judgment dated 15 November 2005, be vacated and replaced with the following order:
              “The second respondent to pay the costs of the appellant and of the first respondent in this Court and in the court below but to have with respect to the former a certificate under the Suitors Fund Act 1951 if otherwise qualified.”

      **********
Details
AGLC
Killen v Rennie and 1 Ors [2006] NSWCA 189
Case
[2006] NSWCA 189
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The parties involved were the appellant, Killen, and the first and second respondents, Rennie and another party. The dispute concerned the variation of an order previously made by the New South Wales Court of Appeal in judgment [2005] NSWCA 392 on 15 November 2005. The matter came before Mason P, Santow JA, and Brownie AJA.

The primary legal issue before the Court was the appropriate costs order to be made in light of the original judgment. Specifically, the Court was required to determine whether the existing costs order should be vacated and replaced, and if so, what the terms of the new costs order should be, including any potential entitlement to a certificate under the Suitors Fund Act 1951.

The Court reasoned that the original costs order required modification. It ordered that Order 3 from the previous judgment be vacated and replaced. The replacement order stipulated that the second respondent would be liable for the costs of both the appellant and the first respondent, not only in the Court of Appeal but also in the court below. Furthermore, the second respondent was to be granted a certificate under the Suitors Fund Act 1951 in respect of the costs in the Court of Appeal, provided they met the eligibility criteria.

Orders

Orders of the court

ORDER that Order 3 made in proceedings No CA 40054/04 and CA 40044/04 by judgment dated 15 November 2005 be vacated and replaced with the following order: ; "The second respondent to pay the costs of the appellant and of the first respondent in this Court and in the court below but to have with respect to the former a certificate under the Suitors Fund Act 1951 if otherwise qualified."

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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