Evidence

The appeal court would not readily admit fresh evidence which the parties should have adduced before the first instance hearing and which was tendered to try to repair holes which should have been plugged before the first instance judge, simply because it had a human rights label attached to it. The threshold remained high. The court had to still be satisfied that the evidence would have resulted in the judge deciding the relevant question differently, so that he would not have ordered the defendant’s discharge. In short, the fresh evidence had to be decisive.