MURRAY & MURRAY

In the Family Court of Australia, Justice Watts considered an application by the wife to re-open final property proceedings after judgment had been reserved. The wife sought to adduce further evidence and obtain additional evidence for the property settlement hearing.

The central legal issue was whether the interests of justice required the admission of the wife's potential new evidence, which she contended was so material that it would most probably affect the result and could not have been discovered earlier through reasonable diligence. The court also considered the prejudice or embarrassment the husband might suffer from the admission of this evidence.

Justice Watts reasoned that if the new evidence was accepted, it would likely alter the outcome of the proceedings and that the wife had demonstrated reasonable diligence in its discovery. The court found that any prejudice to the husband was not a weighty consideration compared to the potential materiality of the evidence. Consequently, the wife was granted conditional leave to obtain further evidence, with orders made to expedite the finalisation of the hearing. These orders included requiring a Mr R to attend court to give evidence and produce documents relating to significant cash deposits, and directing the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police Force to produce relevant statements and documents. The wife was made responsible for any costs incurred by the police in producing these documents.