Weller v Bennett

In *Weller v Bennett*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal from a decision of a trial judge concerning allegations of trespass. The appellants, who were the plaintiffs at trial, sought to set aside the findings of the trial judge that no trespass had occurred.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the findings of the trial judge regarding the absence of trespass were so clearly wrong as to warrant intervention on appeal. This required the Court to review the evidence and the trial judge's application of the relevant legal principles governing trespass.

The Court of Appeal ultimately dismissed the appeal. The reasoning of the Court, as articulated by Beazley JA, Ipp JA, and Sackville AJA, was that the trial judge's findings of fact were open to be made on the evidence presented and that no error of law had been demonstrated. Consequently, the appellate court found no basis to disturb the original judgment. The appellants were ordered to pay the respondents' costs of the appeal.