District Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Wan v Ji (No 2) [2022] NSWDC 288 Hearing dates: Submissions concerning interest closed 20 July 2022. Decision on the papers Date of orders: 25 July 2022 Decision date: 25 July 2022 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Judge Levy SC Decision: See paragraph [5] for orders
Catchwords: INTEREST – assessment of interest on damages award
Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 100
Cases Cited: Category: Consequential orders Parties: Chi Jian Wan (Plaintiff)
Hong Lan Ji (aka Honglan Ki, Margrete Ji, Marger, Margery Ji) (Defendant)Representation: Counsel:
Solicitors:
Mr M Langenheim (Plaintiff)
Mr K Tang / Mr M Morgan (Pro Bono representation) (Defendant)
Di Lizio & Associates (Plaintiff)
LLL The Law Firm (Pro Bono representation) (Defendant)
File Number(s): 2020/184306 Publication restriction: None
Judgment
Application for interest on assessed damages
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On 18 July 2022 the plaintiff obtained a verdict in his favour in the amount of $229,109 plus interest to be calculated. At that time the parties were invited to correct any apparent arithmetic errors in the judgment sum. No errors have been identified. When the reasons for judgment were delivered the parties were required to bring in short minutes which calculated interest to reflect the reasons for judgment: Wan v Ji [2022] NSWDC 269, at [69].
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The parties have agreed that the question of interest to be added to the judgment should be decided on the papers.
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On 20 July 2022 the plaintiff presented a short draft minute which calculated interest in the amount of $52,062.25 in accordance with the Court’s online interest calculator for pre-judgment interest: s 100 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW). A copy of that calculation had earlier been provided to the legal representatives of the defendant on 18 July 2022.
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On 20 July 2022 the defendant’s solicitor informed the plaintiff’s solicitor that he is unable to obtain instructions from the defendant on the plaintiff’s claim for interest. In my view, the defendant has had a reasonable opportunity to be heard on the question of interest and it appears she has chosen not to make submissions in that regard. In those circumstances, the plaintiff’s interest calculations should be accepted.
Orders
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I make the following orders:
Pursuant to s 100 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), interest on the judgment sum of $229,103 is assessed in the amount of $52,062.25;
Final judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $281,165.25 including pre-judgment interest;
The defendant is to pay the plaintiff’s additional costs on the ordinary basis with regard to the submissions concerning interest calculations.
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- AGLC
- Wan v Ji (No 2) [2022] NSWDC 288
- Case
- [2022] NSWDC 288
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The central legal issue before the court was the appropriate rate at which interest should be calculated on the damages awarded. The respondents argued that the interest should be calculated at the rate prescribed by the Interest on Judgment Debts Act 1991 (WA), which was 9.5% per annum. The appellant contended that the interest should be calculated at the rate of 8.75% per annum, as this was the rate applicable under the applicable statutory provisions at the time of the original judgment. The court needed to determine the correct rate of interest to be applied to the damages awarded.
The court held that the applicable statutory provisions were those in force at the time of the original judgment. Given that the original judgment was made before the commencement of the amended Interest on Judgment Debts Act 1991 (WA), the court determined that the correct rate of interest was 8.75% per annum. The court rejected the respondents' argument that the higher rate of 9.5% should apply, as it was not in force at the time of the original judgment. The court accordingly assessed the interest on the damages awarded at the rate of 8.75% per annum.
The court ordered that interest be paid on the damages awarded at the rate of 8.75% per annum from the date of the original judgment until the date of satisfaction of the judgment. The appellant was also ordered to pay the respondents' costs of the appeal.
Orders
Orders of the court
See paragraph [5] for orders
Background
Background to the litigation
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Evidence
Evidence Before The Court
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Decision
Reasons for decision
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Ratio Decidendi
Legal Principle Established
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