Secure Funding Pty Ltd v Stark; Secure Funding Pty Ltd v Conway

The proceedings involved an appeal by Secure Funding Pty Ltd against interlocutory decisions made by an Associate Judge. The appeals were mistakenly commenced in the Court of Appeal, rather than the appropriate division of the Supreme Court.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the proceedings had been wrongly instituted in that Court, and consequently, how the matter should be dealt with. The Court also considered the appropriate orders for costs arising from the incorrect commencement of the proceedings.

Applying the relevant provisions of the *Supreme Court Act 1970* (s 51(2)) and the *Uniform Civil Procedure Rules* (r 49.4), the Court determined that the proceedings were indeed wrongly instituted in the Court of Appeal. The Court reasoned that the proper forum for these interlocutory appeals was a division of the Supreme Court, not the Court of Appeal itself.

Consequently, the Court ordered that the proceedings be remitted to the Common Law Division of the Supreme Court. The respondents were awarded their costs thrown away by the commencement of the proceedings in the Court of Appeal, to be taxed as costs in the Common Law Division.