When applying for an extension of time to institute an appeal (as distinct from reinstatement of a lapsed appeal), the applicant must demonstrate sufficient prospects of success on the proposed grounds, with the threshold varying inversely with the length and quality of explanation for the delay. A party cannot raise a choice of law point on appeal that was not pleaded or argued below and for which no adequate evidence of foreign law was led at trial. The question whether the law of the flag applies to a tort committed on a foreign vessel in Australian territorial waters remains open in Australian law.
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