Kimtran Pty Ltd v Downie

Kimtran Pty Ltd v Downie is a case that involves the liquidators of a company in liquidation, who were ordered to pay the costs of an application for security for costs and an application to strike out the proceedings. The Queensland Building Tribunal had refused to award the costs against the liquidators, concluding that it had no jurisdiction to do so. The liquidators appealed against this decision. The legal issues that the court had to decide were whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to award costs against the liquidators and whether the propriety of the liquidators' conduct was in question. The court also had to consider whether the order for costs against the company in liquidation would be unlikely to result in an effective indemnity.

The court found that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to award costs against the liquidators, as the costs would be unlikely to result in an effective indemnity. The court also found that the propriety of the liquidators' conduct was not in question, and therefore the exercise of discretion was appropriate. The court exercised its discretion afresh and found that the primary judge had erred in the extent to which he considered his discretion was constrained. The court found that the discretion miscarried and set aside the orders made in the District Court. Instead, the court ordered the respondent to pay the costs of the appeal and of the appeal to the District Court to be assessed on the standard basis.