State of New South Wales v Church (Costs)

The case between the State of New South Wales and Church involved the defendant seeking an order for his costs of the proceedings, which included the costs of the preliminary hearing. The plaintiff had brought proceedings under the Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017 (NSW), seeking an Interim Supervision Order and an Extended Supervision Order. The defendant was ultimately subject to an Interim Supervision Order following a preliminary hearing. However, the proceedings were dismissed after the final hearing, which took into account psychiatric and psychological assessments of the defendant.

The legal issues that the court needed to address were whether the defendant should be granted an order for the costs of the proceedings, including the costs of the preliminary hearing, and whether the plaintiff should be required to pay these costs. The court had to consider the statutory provisions governing the exercise of discretion in such cases, as well as the public interest nature of the proceedings and the defendant's failure to cooperate in the initial assessment. The onus was on the plaintiff to establish that the court should depart from the general rule that costs follow the event.

The court found that the defendant was entitled to an order for his costs of the proceedings, including the costs of the preliminary hearing. The court determined that it would operate unfairly to the defendant if he were not given the benefit of an order for the costs of the proceedings. The court also noted that the majority of the preparatory work had been undertaken for the purposes of the preliminary hearing. Furthermore, the defendant had offered to resolve the matter on the basis that no costs would be sought if the proceedings were discontinued, but the plaintiff had rejected that proposal. The court concluded that the plaintiff should be required to pay the defendant's costs of the proceedings, including the costs of the preliminary hearing.