Tsekouras v Evangelinidis

The appeal concerned a dispute between Tsekouras, the appellant, and Evangelinidis, the respondent. The appellant sought to appeal a decision of the District Court, but the appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal as incompetent.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the appeal was competent, given that the sum at issue was less than $100,000 and no question of principle was raised. The appellant's claim was based on the alleged negligence of his solicitor in earlier proceedings.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that, pursuant to section 101(2) of the *District Courts Act 1973* (NSW), an appeal from a judgment of the District Court lies to the Court of Appeal only if the sum sought to be recovered exceeds $100,000, or if the judge granting leave to appeal is of the opinion that the proposed appeal involves a question of law that it would be desirable in the public interest to determine. As neither of these conditions was met, the appeal was incompetent.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed as incompetent, with costs awarded to the respondent.