Breen v Clough

Breen v Clough concerned a protracted dispute between neighbours regarding an easement. The applicants, Breen, had installed a CCTV camera with audio recording capabilities that pointed towards an easement used by the respondents, Clough. The primary judge had ordered the applicants to disable the audio recording function on their CCTV camera and had made further orders curtailing the applicants' rights under the easement for a period of four years. The applicants sought leave to appeal these orders.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether to grant the applicants leave to appeal the primary judge's orders. In considering this, the Court had to assess whether there was an issue of principle, a question of public importance, or a reasonably clear injustice that warranted granting leave to appeal.

The Court of Appeal refused leave to appeal. Their Honours reasoned that the case did not raise any issue of principle or a question of public importance. Furthermore, they found that there was no reasonably clear injustice to the applicants that would justify granting leave. Consequently, the summons filed by the applicants was dismissed with costs.