Zepinic v Chateau Constructions (Aust) Ltd; Zepinic v Chateau Constructions (Aust) Ltd

The applicants, Mr. and Mrs. Zepinic, sought leave to appeal against decisions of the primary judge in two separate proceedings against Chateau Constructions (Aust) Ltd. The proceedings concerned disputes arising from building works undertaken by Chateau Constructions at the applicants' property. The applications for leave to appeal were heard together by Macfarlan and Meagher JJA in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the applicants had demonstrated a sufficient "issue of principle" to warrant the granting of leave to appeal. This required the court to consider whether the appeals raised questions of law that were of general importance or that had the potential to affect the development of the law, rather than merely re-examining factual findings or discretionary judgments made by the primary judge.

The Court of Appeal concluded that no issue of principle was raised by the applications. Their Honours found that the grounds of appeal essentially sought to challenge the primary judge's findings of fact and the exercise of discretion, which are generally not sufficient grounds for granting leave to appeal in the absence of an error of law. Consequently, the applications for leave to appeal were dismissed.

In both matters, CA 2016/270038 and CA 2016/270043, the applications for leave to appeal were dismissed with costs.