Re Golding

Nettle J of the High Court considered an application for special leave to appeal made by Mr Golding. Mr Golding had previously made an application for special leave to appeal which had been refused. The substance of the subsequent application was substantially identical to the previous one, and no exceptional circumstances were identified to explain why novel issues had not been raised in the earlier application.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether Mr Golding's subsequent application for special leave to appeal constituted an abuse of process, given the prior refusal of an identical application and the absence of any compelling explanation for the re-litigation of the same issues.

Nettle J reasoned that the proposed grounds of appeal in the current application added nothing in substance to those advanced in the first application. Furthermore, there was no reason to doubt the correctness of the holdings that were the subject of the grounds of appeal. Applying principles concerning abuse of process and the finality of litigation, particularly in the context of applications for special leave, his Honour concluded that the subsequent application was indeed an abuse of process.

Pursuant to rule 13.03.1 of the High Court Rules, Nettle J directed that the application be determined without listing it for hearing and ordered that the application be dismissed.