Larsen v Grace Worldwide (Australia) Pty Ltd

The appellants, who had suffered damage to goods transported by the respondent carrier from New South Wales to Germany, brought proceedings against the respondent. The central dispute concerned whether the damage to the goods occurred while they were in the respondent's possession and whether certain substances discovered on the goods were toxic and caused injury to the appellants. The matter was heard in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The court was required to determine several key legal issues. Firstly, it had to consider whether the respondent was negligent in its handling of the goods, leading to their damage. Secondly, the court needed to assess whether the substances found on the goods were indeed toxic and, if so, whether they were causative of the injuries sustained by the appellants. Thirdly, the court had to address the appellants' claim of procedural unfairness, specifically concerning the respondent's reliance on a different expert's report after their initial expert became unavailable, and whether this constituted a denial of procedural fairness. Finally, the court had to determine whether to admit new evidence sought to be tendered by the appellants on appeal, and if so, under what grounds.

In its reasoning, the Court of Appeal found no basis for the appellants' claim of procedural unfairness, noting that no complaint was made to the primary judge and that the change in expert evidence did not prejudice the appellants. The court also refused to admit the new evidence sought to be tendered on appeal, as the appellants failed to establish the "special grounds" required by section 75A(8) of the Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW). Consequently, the court dismissed the appellants' application for leave to adduce further evidence and, treating their application for leave to appeal as an appeal as of right, dismissed the appeal. The appellants were ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal.