Aon Risk Services Australia Limited v Australian National University

This matter concerned an application for leave to appeal from a decision of a single judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. The applicant, Aon Risk Services Australia Limited, sought to have certain evidence ruled inadmissible a year before the trial. The primary judge declined to make such a ruling at that pre-trial stage. The respondent was the Australian National University.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the primary judge's decision not to rule certain evidence inadmissible in advance of the trial constituted an "interlocutory order" within the meaning of s 37E(4) of the *Supreme Court Act 1933* (ACT). This question determined whether the application for leave to appeal was competent before the final judgment of the trial. A secondary issue, which did not ultimately arise for determination, concerned whether leave to appeal should be granted even if the application were competent.

The Court reasoned that while s 192A of the *Evidence Act 1995* (Cth) empowers courts to make rulings on evidence in advance of trial, it does not elevate every such ruling to the status of an interlocutory order for the purposes of s 37E(4) of the *Supreme Court Act*. The Court held that the primary judge's decision lacked the requisite degree of finality to be considered an interlocutory order. The Court found that the distinction ANU sought to draw between a ruling on admissibility and a decision not to rule was without substance, as neither type of decision in this context possessed the necessary finality. Consequently, the Court concluded that the application for leave to appeal was incompetent.

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.