Toksoz v Westpac Banking Corporation (No 2)

The Court of Appeal of New South Wales considered an application by Mr Toksoz (the applicant) against Westpac Banking Corporation (the respondent). The dispute concerned the applicant's challenge to orders made by the primary judge and the Court of Appeal itself on 3 July 2012. The applicant sought to vary or set aside those earlier orders.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether it had the power to rescind or vary its previous orders of 3 July 2012, and if so, whether it should exercise that power. This involved considering the principles governing the variation or setting aside of judgments and orders, particularly in light of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005.

The Court determined that it possessed the inherent power to vary or rescind its own orders in circumstances where it was necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice. Applying this principle, the Court found that the previous orders, which had directed the forwarding of judgments to government departments and prohibited publication of identifying information, should be modified. The Court rescinded the effect of the earlier orders and substituted new directions.

The Court ordered that the Registrar of the Court of Appeal forward the judgment delivered on 3 July 2012, the current judgment, and the judgment of the primary judge to the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Human Resources and the Australian Taxation Office. Additionally, the Court ordered that publication of any matter relating to these proceedings that might tend to identify customers of the respondent bank by name or unique identifiers be prohibited.