This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
Small mistakes made during a court case do not automatically mean you get a new trial or that the judgment gets thrown out. If a judge makes an error, like letting in a piece of evidence that should have been left out, or leaving out evidence that should have been let in, that mistake alone is not enough to undo the outcome of the case.
The key question is whether the error actually hurt someone's case in a real way. Courts are told to ignore minor mistakes and technical errors that do not change the fair outcome of the case. Only errors serious enough to affect someone's basic rights, meaning they actually changed how the case turned out, can be grounds for a new trial or for changing a judgment.
In short, this rule tells judges not to overturn decisions just because something small went wrong along the way. The system is not looking for a perfect process. It is looking for a fair result. If the outcome would have been the same even without the mistake, the judgment usually stands.
