Mitrevski v A and a Lederer Pty Ltd

The applicant, Mitrevski, sought leave to appeal against findings made by the primary judge in proceedings against the respondent, A and a Lederer Pty Ltd. The dispute concerned the primary judge's findings, which the applicant contended were unreasonable or unjust. The application for leave to appeal was heard by Ward JA and Sackville AJA in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the findings of the primary judge were so unreasonable or unjust as to warrant granting leave to appeal. This required the Court to consider the threshold for interfering with a primary judge's factual findings on appeal, particularly in the context of an application for leave to appeal.

Ward JA and Sackville AJA applied the well-established principles governing applications for leave to appeal, which require demonstrating that the primary judge's findings were demonstrably wrong or that there was a significant error in the conduct of the trial. Their Honours found that the applicant had failed to establish that the primary judge's findings were unreasonable or unjust to the requisite degree. Consequently, the application for leave to appeal was dismissed.

The Court of Appeal ordered that the application for leave to appeal be dismissed, with costs awarded to the respondent.