The Registrar of Motor Vehicles v Thiele

The Registrar of Motor Vehicles (the Registrar) sought permission to appeal to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia against a decision concerning a driver's licence. The application for permission to appeal was made in private, and the central dispute revolved around a specific ground of appeal that raised a question of fact.

The primary legal issue before the Full Court was whether permission to appeal should be granted, specifically in relation to ground 4 of the Registrar's Notice of Appeal, which concerned a finding of fact. This question arose in the context of s 43 of the *District Court Act 1991* (SA), which stipulates that an appeal on a question of fact requires the leave of the court.

The Full Court considered the nature of the appeal sought and the requirements of s 43 of the *District Court Act 1991* (SA). The court's reasoning focused on whether the identified ground of appeal presented a question of fact that necessitated the granting of leave. The court applied the principles governing appeals on questions of fact, which generally require a higher threshold for appellate intervention than appeals on questions of law.

The court granted permission to appeal.