Waybecca Pty Ltd v Vella - [2019] VSC 306

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA

Not Restricted

AT MELBOURNE

COMMON LAW DIVISION

S CI 2017 02472

WAYBECCA PTY LTD (ACN 143 303 511)	Applicant
v
JOSEPH VELLA	First Respondent
and
RICHARD GIZA	Second Respondent

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JUDGE:	Richards J
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	26 March 2019
DATE OF JUDGMENT:	10 May 2019
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	Waybecca Pty Ltd v Vella
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2019] VSC 306

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COSTS – Review of taxation of costs by Costs Court under former r 63.57, Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic) – No error established – Review dismissed.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Applicant	No appearance	Falcone & Adams Lawyers
For the First Respondent	No appearance
For the Second Respondent	In person

HER HONOUR:

The second respondent, Richard Giza, seeks review of orders and reasons for decision of Associate Justice Wood, made in the Costs Court. The review arises from a summons for taxation of costs filed by the applicant, Waybecca Pty Ltd, on 29 June 2017. Two bills of costs served with the summons were assessed by Costs Registrar Walton on 19 September 2017. Mr Giza sought review of that order, which was dismissed by Judicial Registrar Gourlay on 14 March 2018. Mr Giza did not accept that decision and sought a further review, which was dismissed by Associate Justice Wood on 10 September 2018. On that day his Honour also dismissed Mr Giza’s summons of 6 February 2018, seeking orders that the summons for taxation be dismissed due to alleged breaches of the Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) by Waybecca and its lawyers.

Waybecca’s summons for taxation related to costs orders that were made in two proceedings in the Supreme Court (appeal proceedings). The first was proceeding S CI 2014 03536, in the Trial Division, an appeal by the first respondent, Joseph Vella, from orders of the Magistrates’ Court made in June 2014. That proceeding was dismissed by Associate Justice Lansdowne on 30 November 2015.[1] The second proceeding, S APCI 2016 0002, was Mr Giza’s appeal to the Court of Appeal. That proceeding was dismissed effective 9 September 2016, by a self-executing order made on 1 August 2016.[2] The procedural history of the appeal proceedings is summarised in Associate Justice Wood’s reasons for decision.[3]
[1]Vella v Waybecca Pty Ltd (No. 2) [2015] VSC 678.
[2]Giza v Waybecca Pty Ltd [2016] VSCA 184.
[3]Waybecca Pty Ltd v Vella [2018] VSC 492 (Reasons), [1]-[3]. More detail is provided in Judicial Registrar Gourlay’s reasons for decision dated 14 March 2018, at [1]-[6] and in the Court of Appeal’s reasons for decision dated 22 April 2016, at [4]-[14].

The dispute that gave rise to all of this litigation concerns a contract for the sale of a parking space by Mr Vella to Waybecca in 2012. Mr Vella did not complete the sale, and Waybecca sought specific performance of the contract in the Magistrates’ Court. A detailed account of the dispute…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2019] VSC 306
Decision Date: 10 May 2019

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case of Waybecca Pty Ltd v Vella involved a dispute between the plaintiff, Waybecca Pty Ltd, and the defendant, Vella, which was heard in the Costs Court. The primary issue was a review of the taxation of costs by the Costs Court under the former rule 63.57 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic). The plaintiff sought to challenge the costs awarded in the original litigation, arguing that the assessment was erroneous.

The court was required to determine whether the Costs Court had made any error in its assessment of the costs. This involved a meticulous examination of the legal principles guiding the taxation of costs, the discretion exercised by the Costs Court, and whether the plaintiff had established that the review was necessary. The court had to weigh the arguments presented by both parties and assess the correctness of the Costs Court’s decision.

The Costs Court found no error in the taxation of costs. The review was dismissed, and the plaintiff was not successful in establishing any grounds for the Costs Court’s decision to be overturned. The court upheld the assessment made by the Costs Court, confirming that the original taxation was correct and that no further review was warranted. The outcome effectively concluded that the plaintiff’s appeal against the costs was unfounded.

Orders