Wang v Farkas (No 3)

The proceeding concerned an application by the plaintiff, Mr. Wang, to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for orders to correct mistakes in judgments and orders previously made. The dispute arose from orders entered on 26 February 2014, which were alleged to have been made by mistake, and related to a prior appeal heard in the District Court concerning costs orders made by a Local Court magistrate. The judges hearing the matter were Bathurst CJ, Beazley P, and Basten JA.

The primary legal issues before the Court were the scope of its power to make orders in its supervisory jurisdiction, specifically whether it could make an order as to costs in the court below, and the application of Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 36.17 concerning the correction of clerical mistakes or errors in judgments or orders. The Court considered the principles established in *Kirk v Industrial Court of New South Wales* and *Edwards v Santos Ltd* regarding the court's power to correct errors.

The Court reasoned that it possessed the power to remove orders entered by mistake from the record under r 36.17. It further determined that it could set aside the District Court's orders concerning the costs of the appeal and the costs of the proceedings before the Local Court magistrate, as these had been mistakenly made. The Court concluded that the matter should be remitted to the District Court for the final determination of the appeal, including the appropriate costs orders.

The Court ordered that the orders entered on 26 February 2014 be removed from the record. It also set aside the District Court's judgment and orders of 20 May 2011, both in relation to the dismissal of the appeal concerning the Local Court costs and with respect to the costs of the District Court appeal itself. The matter was remitted to the District Court for final orders disposing of the appeal, and no order was made as to the costs of the parties in the Supreme Court.