Ying and Lang

In the matter of Ying and Lang, Justice Thornton of the Supreme Court of Victoria was required to determine an application for an adjournment of a defended hearing. The parties sought to adjourn the hearing, which was scheduled to commence on 7 December 2017, for a period of ten days.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether to grant the application for an adjournment of the defended hearing. This involved considering the principles governing the grant of adjournments in civil proceedings, including the need to balance the parties' right to have their case heard with the court's obligation to manage its caseload efficiently and prevent undue delay.

Justice Thornton refused the application for an adjournment. The Court's reasoning, though not detailed in the provided text, would have involved an assessment of the reasons for the requested adjournment against the prejudice that granting it might cause to the administration of justice or the opposing party. The Court ultimately ordered that the matter be adjourned for a defended hearing to proceed before Justice Thornton on 8 December 2017 at 10:00 am, indicating that the original hearing date was not entirely vacated but rather shifted by one day.