Melville v Craig Nowlan & Associates Pty Ltd

Melville (the plaintiff) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against an interlocutory order made by the Land and Environment Court requiring him to provide security for costs. The defendant, Craig Nowlan & Associates Pty Ltd, had sought this order on the basis that the plaintiff was impecunious.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Land and Environment Court possessed the power to order a plaintiff to provide security for costs in proceedings before it, particularly in light of the provisions of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW).

The Court of Appeal considered the scope of the Land and Environment Court's jurisdiction and its inherent powers. It analysed section 69(3) of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979*, which grants the Land and Environment Court the power to make such orders as it thinks fit in relation to proceedings before it. The Court concluded that this broad grant of power, read in conjunction with the general principles of interlocutory relief and the need to ensure procedural fairness and prevent abuse of process, encompassed the power to order security for costs. The Court reasoned that impecuniosity of a plaintiff, without more, did not automatically preclude such an order, and that the power was to be exercised judiciously, considering all relevant circumstances.

The appeal was dismissed, and the order of the Land and Environment Court requiring the plaintiff to provide security for costs was upheld.