Sanchez-Sidiropoulos v Canavan

The appeal in *Sanchez-Sidiropoulos v Canavan* concerned a personal injury claim arising from a collision during a physical education warm-up game. The appellant, the injured student, sought leave to amend their grounds of appeal out of time. The respondent was the school. The appeal was heard by Beazley ACJ, Basten and Payne JJA.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether to grant the appellant leave to amend their grounds of appeal out of time, considering the prejudice to the respondent and the reasonable prospect of success of the proposed new grounds, and conversely, the prejudice to the appellant if leave were refused. The court also had to consider the substantive issues of negligence, including the adequacy of instructions given for the game, the suitability of the asphalt playing surface, the age of the players, and the manner in which the game was conducted. Furthermore, the court was required to determine issues of causation, specifically whether the injury sustained was a materialisation of the risk posed by playing on an asphalt surface.

The court refused leave to file the second further amended notice of appeal. In reaching this decision, the court considered the prejudice to the respondent and the appellant's prospects of success on the proposed amended grounds. The appeal was subsequently dismissed.

The court ordered that leave to file the second further amended notice of appeal be refused, and that the appeal be dismissed with costs. Additionally, the court ordered that the solicitor for the appellant personally pay the costs of the preparation of the orange book, up to a sum not exceeding $500 including GST.