Muldoon v Melbourne City Council [2014] FCA 63

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Muldoon v Melbourne City Council [2014] FCA 63 Citation: Muldoon v Melbourne City Council [2014] FCA 63

Parties: JAMES MULDOON and SARA LOUISE KERRISON v MELBOURNE CITY COUNCIL, KEN LAY CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF POLICE and STATE OF VICTORIA

File number: VID 1224 of 2011

Judge: NORTH J

Date of judgment: 12 February 2014

Catchwords: COSTS – court's discretion to award costs – whether special circumstances exist to justify departure from normal course that successful party awarded costs – reasonableness of pursuing of the action after the decisions in Wotton v Queensland (2012) 246 CLR and Attorney-General (SA) v Corporation of the City of Adelaide (2013) 295 ALR 197 – whether applicants' reasonableness in pursuing action in light of current authorities relevant to the question of costs – no clear support for applicants' case prior to the decision in Attorney-General (SA) v Corporation of the City of Adelaide (2013) 295 ALR 197 – applicants to pay 80 per cent of the first respondent's costs – whether challenge to local laws and regulations was in public interest – public interest in the litigation ceased at the time of the decision in Attorney-General (SA) v Corporation of the City of Adelaide (2013) 295 ALR 197 – not in the public interest to join the second respondent to the proceedings – applicants to pay costs of the second respondent

Cases cited: Attorney-General (SA) v Corporation of the City of Adelaide (2013) 295 ALR 197; [2013] HCA 3 Corporation of the City of Adelaide v Corneloup (2011) 110 SASR 334 Wotton v Queensland (2012) 246 CLR 1