Registrar Court of Appeal v Pelechowski

The Registrar of the Court of Appeal sought to strike out an appeal by Mr. Pelechowski against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The core of the dispute concerned Mr. Pelechowski's contention that the Court of Appeal had erred in its previous decision regarding the interpretation of certain provisions of the *Companies (New South Wales) Act 1961* (NSW) and the *Companies Act 1981* (Cth). The Registrar argued that the proposed appeal was frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of process.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether Mr. Pelechowski's proposed appeal had any reasonable prospect of success, or if it was so lacking in merit as to constitute an abuse of the court's process. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the grounds of appeal raised arguable points of law or whether they were based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the relevant legislation and prior judicial decisions.

In its reasoning, the Court of Appeal found that Mr. Pelechowski's arguments were entirely without merit and demonstrated a profound misunderstanding of the law. The court noted that the issues he sought to raise had already been definitively determined in previous proceedings involving the same parties and that his attempts to re-litigate these matters were an abuse of process. The court applied the principles governing the striking out of appeals, emphasizing that while parties have a right to appeal, this right is not absolute and can be curtailed when the appeal is demonstrably frivolous or vexatious.

The Court of Appeal ordered that the appeal be struck out as an abuse of process.