Two recent cases—Reid and Ivanishvili—highlight the stakes. In Reid, a date error was deemed immaterial by the Privy Council due to its obvious nature. But in Ivanishvili, a buried limitation defence misled the court, leading to the order being set aside.
McKinney stresses that materiality hinges on whether an omission misleads the court. Applicants must balance candour with proportionality—neither omitting key facts nor overwhelming judges with trivia. Courts expect applicants to anticipate and disclose potential defences. Respondents, too, must avoid scattergun allegations of non-disclosure.
The takeaway: full and frank disclosure is essential, but so is clarity. The court must not be deprived of relevant facts—nor buried under irrelevant ones.
