Yalda v Consulate General of the Republic of Iraq, Sydney

This matter concerned applications for relief brought by Ms Yalda, Mr Al-Attar, and Mr Sultan, former employees of the Consulate General of the Republic of Iraq, Sydney. The applications were heard together by Manousaridis J, with the evidence from each proceeding being admitted in all three. The applicants, who were unrepresented, presented their cases through affidavits and oral submissions, and were cross-examined by Mr Fernon SC for the Consulate. The Consulate led its evidence, primarily through affidavits of Mr Witwit, who was also cross-examined by the applicants.

The central legal issues before the court involved assessing the authenticity of two memoranda dated 10 August 2018 and 1 November 2018, and determining the weight to be given to the evidence presented. This assessment was to be conducted in accordance with established principles for evaluating testimonial evidence within an adversarial system.

In reaching its decision, the court applied the principle articulated by Lord Mansfield in *Blatch v Archer*, which states that "all evidence is to be weighed according to the proof which it was in the power of one side to have produced, and in the power of the other to have contradicted." The court noted that this maxim operates when a disputed fact is contested and the proponent of that fact has adduced some evidence that is reasonably capable of proving it. The application of the maxim requires consideration of whether the evidence presented by the proponent could have been contradicted by the opposing party, and the extent to which it was.