Wang v State of New South Wales (No 2)

The parties to this proceeding were the State of New South Wales and Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang sought to reverse the result of an application for leave to appeal, which had previously been determined by the court. The matter came before Macfarlan and Payne JJA of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the court was whether Mr. Wang's notice of motion constituted an impermissible attempt to re-argue an application for leave to appeal that had already been decided.

The court reasoned that a notice of motion seeking to reverse the result of an application for leave to appeal, after that application had been refused, was not a permissible procedural step. Such an application amounted to an attempt to re-argue the merits of the refused application, which the court held was not permitted. The court applied the principle that once an application for leave to appeal has been determined, the parties are bound by that decision, and a party cannot simply seek to have the same application re-heard or reversed through a subsequent motion.

Consequently, the court dismissed Mr. Wang's notice of motion and ordered that he pay the costs of the State of New South Wales.