Levy v Watt (No 2)

The case of Levy v Watt (No 2) involved a dispute between the plaintiff and the defendants concerning the ownership of a painting, which the defendants claimed was stolen and demanded the plaintiff return it. The matter was before the Supreme Court of Victoria. The primary issue the court needed to resolve was whether costs should be awarded in the circumstances where both parties were innocent of any wrongdoing. This issue arose from the defendants' Calderbank offer to sell the painting and split the net proceeds equally among the parties, which the plaintiff had rejected.

The court considered whether the plaintiff's rejection of the Calderbank offer was unreasonable and whether it was appropriate to award costs against the plaintiff. The court noted the relevant statutory provisions and rules, including section 24 of the Supreme Court Act 1986, section 49(3)(k) of the Civil Procedure Act 2010, and rule 63.04 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2005. The court found that the defendants' Calderbank offer was reasonable, and the plaintiff's rejection was indeed unreasonable, leading to the conclusion that costs should be awarded against the plaintiff. The court ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendants' costs of the proceedings.