OMIDVAR & JARAH

In the Family Court of Australia, Justice Hogan presided over proceedings involving the Applicant and the Respondent, with an Independent Children’s Lawyer also participating. The central dispute concerned the discontinuance of a part-heard final hearing. This discontinuance necessitated a new hearing, leading to an application for costs certificates.

The court was required to determine whether to grant costs certificates pursuant to s 10(3) of the Federal Proceedings (Costs) Act 1981 (Cth). This involved assessing whether the discontinuance of the hearing was attributable to the neglect, default, or improper act of any party.

Justice Hogan reasoned that the discontinuance of the hearing was not the fault of any party. Consequently, the court granted costs certificates to the Applicant, the Respondent, and the Independent Children’s Lawyer. These certificates indicated that it would be appropriate for the Attorney-General to authorise payment for a portion of the costs incurred by these parties in relation to the hearing dates of 3, 4, 5, 6 February 2020, and 2 March 2020. The court also made orders for the destruction of electronic copies of the respondent's evidence from 5 February 2020 and for the court's copy of that transcript to be sealed. The matter was relisted for a new final hearing before Justice Carew.