ADH v AHL

The appeal was brought by a woman, ADH, against a decision made by a magistrate in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria. The decision concerned an application under the Family Violence Act 2016 (Vic) made by ADH against her former partner, AHL, and his current partner. The magistrate made an order prohibiting AHL and his current partner from committing violence towards ADH and her children. The appeal was focused on the magistrate's handling of the evidence, including whether the magistrate should have found AHL and his current partner to be untruthful and whether the decision was unreasonable.

The court was required to determine whether fresh evidence should have been allowed in the appeal, whether the magistrate erred in rejecting the respondent and her partner as untruthful, and whether the decision was unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence. The court also had to consider whether the magistrate erred in making the order and whether the order was “necessary or desirable” to protect ADH from domestic violence. Additionally, the court had to determine whether the orders should have extended to AHL's current partner, who was not named in the application.

The court found that the appeal was without merit and dismissed it. The court held that the magistrate did not err in rejecting the respondent and her partner as untruthful and that the decision was supported by the evidence. The court also found that the magistrate did not err in making the order and that the order was “necessary or desirable” to protect ADH from domestic violence. The court held that the magistrate did not wrongly exercise her discretion in making the order and that the orders did not extend to AHL's current partner, who was not named in the application. The court affirmed the orders made by the magistrate.