Chaina v Presbyterian Church (NSW) Property Trust (No. 21)

The case involved a dispute between Chaina and the Presbyterian Church (NSW) Property Trust, with the matter being heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The issue before the court was whether evidence that had been rejected could be made relevant through cross-examination. Chaina sought to introduce evidence that had been rejected by the court, arguing that it could be made relevant through a specific line of questioning during cross-examination.

The legal issues that the court was required to decide were whether the rejected evidence could be considered relevant and admissible through cross-examination, and whether the cross-examination itself was sufficient to make the evidence relevant. The court needed to determine the boundaries of admissibility and relevance in this context.

In its reasoning, the court found that the rejected evidence was not relevant on its own, but that it could potentially become relevant through cross-examination. However, the court found that the cross-examination in this case was not sufficient to make the evidence relevant. The court held that for evidence to be made relevant through cross-examination, there must be a clear and direct connection between the evidence and the issues in the case. The court found that the cross-examination in this case did not establish such a connection. Therefore, the evidence remained inadmissible. The court also noted that the admissibility of evidence is a matter for the trial judge to determine, and that the trial judge's decision should not be lightly overturned.

The final orders of the court were that the rejected evidence remained inadmissible, and that the cross-examination was not sufficient to make it relevant. The court upheld the trial judge's decision on this matter.