Manesh & Manesh

In the matter of *Manesh & Manesh*, Mr Manesh (the applicant husband) sought an order to expedite the hearing of his Notice of Appeal filed on 7 October 2020. The appeal concerned orders made by the primary Judge on 25 June 2020, which dismissed the husband's application for supervised time with one of the parties' children and for the child to spend time with her grandparents. The husband's application for expedition was based on the alleged urgency of re-establishing his relationship with the child, who had not had contact for 16-17 months, and the need for time with the child before a final hearing to facilitate the preparation of a family report.

The legal issue before the Court was whether the husband's appeal should be expedited, and if so, to what extent. The Court was required to consider the husband's submissions regarding the urgency of the matter against the practicalities of the court's listing and the best interests of the child. The primary Judge had previously determined that it was not in the child's best interests to spend time with the husband pending the final hearing, meaning the husband would need to succeed on appeal to achieve his desired outcome.

Strickland J reasoned that while the appeal should be expedited, the husband had not demonstrated a circumstance warranting priority to the detriment of other listed appeals. The Court noted that the wife and the Independent Children's Lawyer did not consider the matter so urgent as to displace other appeals. Consequently, the Court found that expediting the hearing to the April 2021 sittings of the Full Court was appropriate, as the February 2021 sittings were already full and would require the removal of an existing appeal.

The Court ordered that the hearing of the Notice of Appeal filed by the applicant husband be expedited and listed for hearing in the sittings of the Full Court commencing on Monday, 26 April 2021.