Kuksal v Victorian Legal Services Board

The appeal before the court was brought by the plaintiff, Kuksal, against the decision of the judicial registrar who dismissed the plaintiff's application to set aside a directions order. The defendants, the Victorian Legal Services Board, had filed summonses for summary judgment which were not served on the plaintiff prior to the directions hearing. The registrar made directions for the exchange of material for the determination of the defendants' summonses, and the plaintiff subsequently applied to set aside these directions. The primary legal issue before the court was whether the registrar should have refused to make the directions given that the summonses were not served on the plaintiff prior to the directions hearing. Another issue was whether the plaintiff was accorded procedural fairness or whether there was otherwise unfairness to the plaintiff. The court also considered whether the plaintiff's right to procedural fairness was breached because they were offered an adjournment of the directions hearing but declined it.

The court held that the directions order was not in itself unlawful and did not constitute a breach of procedural fairness. The court noted that the directions expressly granted liberty to apply and the plaintiff had the opportunity to do so. The court further found that the plaintiff had not demonstrated that they were prejudiced by the failure to serve the summonses prior to the directions hearing, as they were given the opportunity to make submissions on the matter. The court also held that the plaintiff's decision to decline an adjournment did not amount to a breach of procedural fairness. The court concluded that the plaintiff had not made out a case for setting aside the directions order.

The court dismissed the plaintiff's application to set aside the directions order. The court held that the directions order did not constitute a breach of procedural fairness and that the plaintiff had not demonstrated any prejudice as a result of the failure to serve the summonses prior to the directions hearing. The court also held that the plaintiff's decision to decline an adjournment did not amount to a breach of procedural fairness. The court found that the plaintiff's application was without merit and dismissed it.