Lowe v Pascoe (No 2)

Lowe v Pascoe (No 2) was a legal dispute between the plaintiff, Lowe, and the defendant, Pascoe, that was heard by the Federal Court of Australia. The case involved a claim for damages based on allegations of fraud and misrepresentation in a property transaction. The plaintiff sought a fresh trial after the original trial, in which the defendant was found not liable, on the grounds that the defendant had deliberately withheld certain cash payment journals from discovery during the original trial.

The court was required to determine whether the cash payment journals that were allegedly withheld during the original trial were admissible as material relevant to the fresh trial. The legal issues included whether the principles applicable to re-opening the case had changed, and whether the journals were relevant to the fresh trial. The court also had to consider whether the journals had the potential to change the outcome of the fresh trial.

In delivering its judgment, the court held that the principles applicable to re-opening the case no longer applied, as the original trial had concluded and the issues had been decided. However, the court found that the cash payment journals were relevant to the fresh trial, as they contained material that had the potential to change the outcome of the trial. The court held that the journals were admissible as they were relevant to the fresh trial and had not been previously considered by the court. The court also found that the journals had the potential to change the outcome of the fresh trial, as they contained evidence that was not previously available to the court. As a result, the court ordered a fresh trial to be held.