Marium v Darley

In *Marium v Darley*, the applicant, Ms Marium, sought to appeal the dismissal of her application for judicial review of a refusal to grant a permanent stay of summary criminal proceedings. The appeal was dismissed as incompetent, with the applicant being granted an entitlement to file a summons seeking leave within a specified period. The primary issue before the court was whether the applicant had an appeal as of right from the dismissal of her application for judicial review, and if not, whether her subsequent summons seeking leave, which was sent by registered post and arrived at the court after the expiry of the specified period, satisfied the court's order.

The court was required to determine the nature of the order made, specifically whether it was confirmatory of the dismissal of the appeal or whether it granted a further opportunity to seek leave. This involved an interpretation of the court's previous orders and the procedural requirements for filing a summons seeking leave to appeal. The court also considered the effect of the applicant's method of filing the summons, namely by registered post, and whether its arrival after the stipulated deadline constituted compliance with the order.

Leeming JA found that the applicant did not have an appeal as of right. The court's previous order was interpreted as dismissing the appeal and providing a limited window to seek leave to appeal. The court held that the applicant's summons seeking leave was not filed within the specified period, as it arrived at the court after the expiry of that period. The method of sending the summons by registered post did not alter the requirement for it to be filed within the stipulated timeframe. Consequently, the notice of motion filed on 19 August 2025 was dismissed, and Ms Marium was ordered to pay Constable Darley’s costs of that motion.