Proietti v Proietti

The applicant, Mr Proietti, sought to set aside orders made by the Court of Appeal concerning the sale of real property under section 66G of the *Conveyancing Act 1919* (NSW). The respondents were the trustees of the property and another beneficiary. The applicant had previously sought special leave to appeal to the High Court, which was refused. The Court of Appeal was therefore asked to review its own final orders, which had been duly entered.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether it had the power to set aside its own final, entered orders, and whether a stay of proceedings was warranted pending the determination of an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court. The Court also considered whether a *Teoh* direction, restricting the applicant's access to the court, was appropriate and whether a special order for costs should be made against the applicant.

Ward P and Adamson JA held that the Court of Appeal had no power to set aside its final orders once they had been duly entered. They further found that there was no utility in reviewing the decision to refuse a stay, given that special leave to appeal to the High Court had already been refused. The Court determined that a *Teoh* direction was not warranted, as it would not protect the trustees' expeditious sale of the property or the other beneficiary.

The Court ordered that the amended notice of motion filed by the applicant be dismissed. Furthermore, the applicant was ordered to pay the respondents’ costs of the notice of motion on an indemnity basis, with these costs to be satisfied from the applicant’s share of the net proceeds of the sale of the property.