Lazarus v Independent Commission Against Corruption

In *Lazarus v Independent Commission Against Corruption*, the plaintiff sought to vacate a hearing date due to the illness of their barrister and solicitor. The matter came before White JA of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The central legal issue was whether section 69C of the *Supreme Court Act 1970* (NSW) operated to stay the plaintiff's conviction in light of the unavailability of their legal representatives due to illness.

White JA determined that the circumstances warranted vacating the hearing date. The court applied the principle that where a party's legal representation is unavoidably prevented from attending a hearing due to illness, and this prevents them from properly presenting their case, a stay or adjournment may be granted. The court found that section 69C did not operate to automatically stay the conviction in this instance, but the overarching power to manage its proceedings allowed for the vacation of the hearing.

The court ordered that the hearing date of 9 April 2018 be vacated. Further directions were made regarding the filing of written submissions by the parties and any interveners, with costs of the application to vacate to be costs in the proceedings.