Apex Holiday Centre (Inc) v Lynn

The matter before the Court of Appeal was an application by the respondent to amend the grounds of appeal to include a new ground, which was not raised in the original grounds of appeal. The respondent, Lynn, sought to amend the grounds to argue that the trial judge made an error in law in failing to take into account a particular statutory provision. The appellant, Apex Holiday Centre (Inc), opposed the application on the basis that it was an attempt to raise a new ground of appeal and that the amendment would cause unfairness and prejudice to the appellant.

The court was required to determine whether the respondent was entitled to amend the grounds of appeal to include a new ground of appeal. The court noted that there are no hard and fast rules governing amendments to grounds of appeal, and each case must turn on its own facts. The court identified the relevant principles that it would consider in determining whether to allow the amendment, including whether the amendment would cause unfairness or prejudice to the other party, whether the amendment was sought in a timely manner, and whether the amendment related to the merits of the appeal or was confined to a question of law.

The court held that the amendment was permissible because it did not relate to the merits of the appeal but was confined to a question of law. The court also found that the amendment would not cause unfairness or prejudice to the appellant, as the appellant had been given sufficient notice of the new ground of appeal and had the opportunity to respond to it. The court further held that the amendment was sought in a timely manner and that the respondent had acted reasonably in seeking to amend the grounds of appeal.

Accordingly, the court allowed the respondent's application to amend the grounds of appeal to include the new ground of appeal. The orders of the court were that the respondent's application to amend the grounds of appeal was allowed.