Zepinic v Chateau Constructions (Aust) Ltd

The New South Wales Court of Appeal, constituted by McColl and Leeming JJA, considered an application for leave to appeal brought by Dr Zepinic. The dispute concerned the competency of Dr Zepinic's application, which he sought to have set aside orders made against him on 12 December 2014. A key issue was Dr Zepinic's assertion that he was entitled to provide a United Kingdom address for service and that personal service upon him in the United Kingdom was required, despite the Court having previously advised that originating process lacking a local address for service was likely to be considered incompetent.

The Court was required to determine whether Dr Zepinic's application for leave to appeal was competent, given his failure to provide a local address for service in New South Wales. This involved considering the rules and principles governing service of process and the requirements for initiating an appeal in the Court of Appeal.

The Court dismissed Dr Zepinic's application as incompetent. The reasoning applied was that the failure to provide a local address for service rendered the originating process defective, and therefore the application could not proceed. The Court's earlier advice regarding the necessity of a local address for service was reiterated and applied to the present circumstances.