711 Hogben Pty Ltd v Tadros

711 Hogben Pty Ltd (the applicant) sought leave to appeal from a decision of a primary judge who had determined some, but not all, of the issues that had been ordered for separate determination. The respondents argued that an appeal as of right would be available once all issues were determined at first instance.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether it should hear the appeal at this stage, given that not all issues had been finally determined by the primary judge. The court also considered whether a sufficiently strong case of error had been made out by the applicant to warrant granting leave to appeal.

Meagher and Leeming JJA refused leave to appeal. Their Honours reasoned that it was not appropriate for the Court of Appeal to determine an issue that had not been finally resolved at first instance, particularly when an appeal as of right would be available upon the completion of the proceedings. The court found that the applicant had not demonstrated a sufficiently strong case of error to justify departing from the usual course of litigation.

Consequently, the summons seeking leave to appeal was dismissed, and the applicant was ordered to pay the respondents’ costs of the summons.