Kervan Trading Pty Limited v MMI

Kervan Trading Pty Limited appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned an application for a new trial, which had been refused by the primary judge.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the primary judge had erred in refusing to grant a new trial based on fresh evidence. This required the Court to consider the principles governing the admission of fresh evidence on appeal and the criteria for granting a new trial.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the principles established in *Ladd v Marshall* [1954] 1 WLR 1489, which require that for fresh evidence to be admitted on appeal and a new trial granted, it must be shown that the evidence could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence for use at the trial, that the evidence would have had a material effect on the result of the trial, and that the evidence must be credible. Applying these principles, the Court found that the fresh evidence sought to be adduced by Kervan Trading did not meet the necessary criteria, particularly in relation to its credibility and its likely impact on the original outcome.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed with costs.