The Supreme Court held that appeals from the Magistrates' Court to the County Court under s 119 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) are broad appeals by rehearing where new evidence may be led, not hearings de novo. The County Court's appellate jurisdiction is only enlivened where factual, legal or discretionary error is identified in the magistrate's decision, and the County Court cannot simply begin again without identifying such error. While the County Court may receive new evidence on appeal, it must still identify error in the original decision to exercise its appellate jurisdiction.
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