Collier v Country Women's Association of New South Wales

Collier (the applicant) sought leave to appeal from a decision of a single judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, who had refused an application to amend a statement of claim. The proposed amendment involved annexing an affidavit to the statement of claim. The Country Women's Association of New South Wales was the respondent.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether leave to appeal should be granted, given that the applicant contended there was no discernible error by the primary judge in refusing the amendment. This required the Court to consider the threshold for granting leave to appeal in such circumstances.

The Court of Appeal found no discernible error in the primary judge's refusal to allow the amendment. The Court reasoned that annexing an affidavit to a statement of claim is not a permissible procedural step in New South Wales. The Court dismissed the applicant's summons seeking leave to appeal.

The Court of Appeal ordered that the notice of motion be dismissed with no order as to costs, and that the applicant's summons seeking leave to appeal be dismissed. The applicant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the summons seeking leave to appeal.