Fitzpatrick v Keelty (No 2) [2008] FCA 742

Fitzpatrick v Keelty (No 2) [2008] FCA 742

The respondents were the successful parties and the ordinary rule that costs follow the event applied. The applicant's self-represented status, bankruptcy, and the material suggesting possible mental disability did not justify departing from that rule, because the Court was not satisfied that he suffered from a mental disability and bankruptcy did not constrain the making of a costs order. The applicant was therefore ordered to pay the respondents' costs of both proceedings.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
23 May 2008
Procedural Posture
Costs Judgment in Two Federal Court Proceedings Including Judicial Review Proceedings / After Dismissal of Proceedings; Determination of Reserved Costs and Variation of Earlier Orders
Outcome
Earlier orders varied and the applicant ordered to pay the respondents' costs of both proceedings.
Legal Topics
['costs Follow the Event' 'costs Against Self Represented Litigant' 'costs Against Bankrupt Litigant' 'mental Disability and Litigation Capacity' 'abandonment of Proceedings Under S 60 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (cth)' 'non Publication Order Under S 50 of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (cth)']
['civil Procedure' 'costs' 'bankruptcy' 'administrative Law'] ['costs Follow the Event' 'costs Against Self Represented Litigant' 'costs Against Bankrupt Litigant' 'mental Disability and Litigation Capacity' 'abandonment of Proceedings Under S 60 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (cth)' 'non Publication Order Under S 50 of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (cth)']

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Procedural Posture

Costs Judgment in Two Federal Court Proceedings Including Judicial Review Proceedings / After Dismissal of Proceedings; Determination of Reserved Costs and Variation of Earlier Orders

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['What costs order should be made after the proceedings were dismissed or treated as abandoned under s 60 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth).' "Whether the applicant's status as a self-represented litigant justified departing from the ordinary order that costs follow the event." 'Whether the Court should refrain from making a costs order because the applicant may have been suffering from a mental disability.' 'Whether the Court should refrain from making a costs order because the applicant was bankrupt.' 'Whether earlier orders should be varied to refer to proceedings having been abandoned under s 60 rather than stayed by operation of s 60.']

Ratio Decidendi

The respondents were the successful parties and the ordinary rule that costs follow the event applied. The applicant's self-represented status, bankruptcy, and the material suggesting possible mental disability did not justify departing from that rule, because the Court was not satisfied that he suffered from a mental disability and bankruptcy did not constrain the making of a costs order. The applicant was therefore ordered to pay the respondents' costs of both proceedings.

Court Disposition

Earlier orders varied and the applicant ordered to pay the respondents' costs of both proceedings.

Orders

  • ['Order 1 of the orders made on 31 January 2008 be varied by replacing the words "are not stayed by operation of" with "have not been abandoned under".' "The applicant is to pay the respondents' costs of the proceedings."]