166Court may order discontinuance of proceedings in certain circumstances

#### 166 Court may order discontinuance of proceedings in certain circumstances 166 Court may order discontinuance of proceedings in certain circumstances (cf s33N FCA) > > (1) The Court may, on application by the defendant or of its own motion, order that proceedings no longer continue under this Part if it is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice to do so because— > > > > > (a) the costs that would be incurred if the proceedings were to continue as representative proceedings are likely to exceed the costs that would be incurred if each group member conducted a separate proceeding, or > > > > > (b) all the relief sought can be obtained by means of proceedings other than representative proceedings under this Part, or > > > > > (c) the representative proceedings will not provide an efficient and effective means of dealing with the claims of group members, or > > > > > (d) a representative party is not able to adequately represent the interests of the group members, or > > > > > (e) it is otherwise inappropriate that the claims be pursued by means of representative proceedings. > > > (2) It is not, for the purposes of subsection (1) (e), inappropriate for claims to be pursued by means of representative proceedings merely because the persons identified as group members in relation to the proceedings— > > > > > (a) do not include all persons on whose behalf those proceedings might have been brought, or > > > > > (b) are aggregated together for a particular purpose such as a litigation funding arrangement. > > > (3) If the Court dismisses an application under this section, the Court may order that no further application under this section be made by the defendant except with the leave of the Court. > > > (4) Leave for the purposes of subsection (3) may be granted subject to such conditions as to costs as the Court considers just. > > **pt 2A, divs 1–6 (ss 18A–18O):** Ins 2010 No 135, Sch 6.2 \[2\]. Rep 2013 No 1, Sch 1.6 \[2\]. > > **s 166:** Ins 2010 No 135, Sch 6.1 \[2\].