SOCIÉTÉ Des Produits NestlÉ SA v Christian (No.15)

Société Des Produits Nestlé SA (the applicant) sought a stay of proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, pending the determination of an appeal it intended to lodge against an earlier interlocutory decision of the court. The respondent, Christian, opposed the application.

The primary legal issue before Justice Manousaridis was whether it was an appropriate case to grant a stay of proceedings. This required the court to consider the principles governing applications for stays pending appeal, particularly in the context of interlocutory decisions.

Justice Manousaridis applied the well-established principles for granting a stay, which generally require the applicant to demonstrate a strong prima facie case on the appeal, that the appeal would be rendered nugatory if the stay were not granted, and that the balance of convenience favoured granting the stay. His Honour found that the applicant had not satisfied these criteria, noting that the grounds of appeal were not sufficiently strong and that the potential prejudice to the respondent if a stay were granted outweighed any prejudice to the applicant.

The application for a stay was therefore refused.