Valder v Wolak

The appeal concerned a summons seeking leave to appeal from a decision of the primary judge. The appellant, Valdemar Ian Valder, had served his notice of intention to appeal out of time and had not sought an extension of time for this purpose. Consequently, the summons seeking leave to appeal was filed late. The appellant failed to appear at the hearing of the summons, and his written submissions did not establish an arguable case for granting leave to appeal.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether to grant leave to appeal, given the appellant's failure to comply with the time limits for serving the notice of intention to appeal and filing the summons seeking leave to appeal. This involved considering whether there were sufficient grounds to justify an extension of time for these procedural steps, and whether the appellant had demonstrated an arguable case on the merits of the intended appeal.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Beazley JA and Tobias AJA, determined that the appellant had not presented an arguable case for leave to appeal. In the absence of an appearance by the appellant and with written submissions failing to demonstrate any merit in the proposed appeal, the Court concluded that it was not appropriate to grant an extension of time or to grant leave to appeal.

Accordingly, the Summons for leave to appeal was dismissed. The applicant, Valdemar Ian Valder, was ordered to pay the costs of the second respondent, the New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation.