Rickard Constructions v Rickard Hails Moretti

In the matter of Rickard Constructions v Rickard Hails Moretti, the dispute involved the admissibility of certain documents under the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The case centred on whether these documents qualified as business records and could be admitted under section 69 of the Act. The central issue before the court was whether the documents in question were admissible as business records, given that the author had personal knowledge of only some of the matters stated in the document, and the court had to determine if the representations made by the author met the criteria outlined in sections 69(2) and 69(3) of the Act.

The court examined whether the representations made by the author of the documents were based on the author's personal knowledge or on information supplied by someone else. The construction of the phrase "or might reasonably be supposed to have had personal knowledge" in section 69(2) was key to this determination. Additionally, the court considered whether the documents were prepared for the purpose of, or in contemplation of, or in connection with an Australian proceeding, as required by section 69(3). The court had to decide whether section 69(3) acted as an exception to section 69(2) or as a further condition for admissibility.

After a thorough analysis of the facts and the provisions of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), the court ruled that the documents were not admissible as business records under section 69. The court found that the author's personal knowledge did not cover all the matters stated in the document, and the representations were not made on the basis of the author's personal knowledge or information supplied by someone else. Consequently, the court held that the documents did not meet the criteria for admissibility under section 69(2). The court also found that section 69(3) did not apply to the documents in this case.