Mei Zhang v Ye Cheng

Mei Zhang (the applicant) sought leave to appeal from an interlocutory decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales that set aside a default judgment previously entered against Ye Cheng (the respondent). The application for leave to appeal was heard by McColl JA and Sackville AJA in the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the application for leave to appeal raised an issue of principle, and whether any significant injustice would be caused to the applicant by refusing leave to appeal. These considerations are central to the determination of whether leave to appeal should be granted from an interlocutory decision.

The Court of Appeal considered the criteria for granting leave to appeal from an interlocutory decision, which requires demonstrating an issue of principle or a significant injustice. After reviewing the circumstances and the arguments presented, their Honours concluded that neither of these criteria had been met. Consequently, the Court of Appeal decided to dismiss the application for leave to appeal.

The Court ordered that the time for filing the summons seeking leave to appeal be extended until 16 August 2018, but ultimately dismissed the application for leave to appeal. The applicant was also ordered to pay the respondent’s costs of the application for leave to appeal.