Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales v Dimitrovski (No 2)

In *Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales v Dimitrovski (No 2)*, the Supreme Court of New South Wales considered an application for indemnity costs following earlier proceedings. The dispute concerned the appropriate costs order to be made after the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales (RTA) had been unsuccessful in its appeal against a judgment in favour of Mr. Dimitrovski.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the RTA's conduct in the litigation warranted the award of indemnity costs to Mr. Dimitrovski. This involved an assessment of whether the RTA had acted unreasonably or vexatiously in its pursuit of the appeal, thereby justifying a departure from the usual order for party and party costs.

The Court ultimately declined to award indemnity costs. It reasoned that while the RTA's appeal had been unsuccessful, its conduct did not reach the threshold of unreasonableness or vexation required to justify such an exceptional order. The Court found no basis to conclude that the RTA had engaged in conduct that warranted penalising it with indemnity costs, which are awarded to compensate a party for costs incurred beyond what would ordinarily be recoverable.