Saxmere wants $700,000 in costs

Bill Wilson. Photo / Getty Images

The litigant whose investigations led to the resignation of Supreme Court judge Bill Wilson has yet to be paid costs it is claiming of up to $700,000.

Saxmere, a fine wool grower, raised issues of transparency and conflicts of interest with its battle to gain a retrial in a case about wool levies.

The Supreme Court ordered a retrial, ruling that previously undisclosed details of Mr Wilson's business relationship with a lawyer for the other party in the case met the legal test of a reasonable apprehension of bias.

Saxmere says Crown Law is not prepared to negotiate and wants the court to rule on costs. Saxmere is not keen. "Given what has taken place, I have no confidence at all in going back to the Supreme Court," says company principal Peter Radford.

Mr Radford said the Solicitor-General had advised that Crown Law would oppose the court ruling on costs before the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in the retrial.

Saxmere regards the outcome of its retrial to be irrelevant to the costs it incurred on the conflict of interest issue. The retrial was heard on June 30 and July 1. The judge noted it was to be given priority.

Mr Wilson's resignation took effect last week. His negotiated departure package included a year's salary of $410,000, taxable, and payment of his solicitor-client costs of $475,000.

Setting up a register of pecuniary interests for judges was discussed last week in Parliament.

No one from Crown Law was available to comment.