Zepinic v Health Care Complaints Commission (No 3)

Court of Appeal

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Zepinic v Health Care Complaints Commission (No 3) [2021] NSWCA 25
Hearing dates: On the papers
Date of orders: 4 March 2021
Decision date: 04 March 2021
Before: Macfarlan JA;
McCallum JA
Decision:
Dismiss Dr Zepinic’s notice of motion filed on 16 December 2020, with costs.

Catchwords:
JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS – second application to set aside previous judgment of Court refusing leave to appeal – as with first application, no basis for reopening established

Category: Procedural rulings
Parties: Dr Vito Zepinic (Applicant)
Health Care Complaints Commission (Respondent)
Representation:
Counsel:
Self-represented Applicant
P Lowson (Respondent)
Solicitors:
Self-represented Applicant
Health Care Complaints Commission (Respondent)

File Number(s): 2020/43054
Decision under appeal

Court or tribunal:

Supreme Court

Jurisdiction:

Common Law

Citation:

[2020] NSWSC 13

Date of Decision:

03 February 2020

Before:

N Adams J

File Number(s):

2018/385664

Judgment

THE COURT: On 15 July 2020 this Court dismissed an application by Dr Zepinic for leave to appeal ([2020] NSWCA 146). Dr Zepinic’s attempt to reopen that judgment was dismissed by the Court’s further judgment of 10 December 2020 ([2020] NSWCA 320).
By notice of motion filed on 16 December 2020 Dr Zepinic seeks yet again to have the Court’s judgment of 15 July 2020 reopened and leave to appeal granted. This further application should be dismissed for the same reasons as given in the Court’s judgment of 10 December 2020. As with his previous application, the arguments he advances are ones “previously addressed by the Court or ones that it was open to him to raise previously but which, for no good and proper reason that he has established, he did not do so” (at [5]). Dr Zepinic therefore again seeks “to re-argue his previous application without establishing any of the special circumstances that might persuade the Court to reopen its judgment notwithstanding the interest of the public in the finality of litigation” (ibid).
Dr Zepinic’s notice of motion filed on 16 December 2020 is accordingly dismissed with costs.

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CaseChat Overview and Summary

This matter concerned an application by Dr Zepinic to set aside a previous judgment of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales, which had refused his application for leave to appeal. The Health Care Complaints Commission was the respondent. Dr Zepinic sought to reopen the Court's decision to refuse leave to appeal, following an earlier unsuccessful attempt to do so.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether Dr Zepinic had established a sufficient basis to reopen the previous judgment refusing leave to appeal. This required the Court to consider the principles governing the setting aside of judgments, particularly in circumstances where a party seeks a second opportunity to challenge a decision that has already been considered and refused.

The Court determined that Dr Zepinic had not presented any new material or demonstrated any error in the original decision that would warrant reopening the matter. Applying established principles, the Court found no basis for disturbing its prior refusal of leave to appeal. The Court reiterated that such applications are exceptional and require compelling reasons, which were absent in this instance.

Consequently, the Court dismissed Dr Zepinic’s notice of motion filed on 16 December 2020 and ordered that he pay the costs of the proceedings.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established

Medium Neutral Citation:	Zepinic v Health Care Complaints Commission (No 3) [2021] NSWCA 25
Hearing dates:	On the papers
Date of orders:	4 March 2021
Decision date:	04 March 2021
Before:	Macfarlan JA; McCallum JA
Decision:	Dismiss Dr Zepinic’s notice of motion filed on 16 December 2020, with costs.
Catchwords:	JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS – second application to set aside previous judgment of Court refusing leave to appeal – as with first application, no basis for reopening established
Category:	Procedural rulings
Parties:	Dr Vito Zepinic (Applicant) Health Care Complaints Commission (Respondent)
Representation:	Counsel: Self-represented Applicant P Lowson (Respondent) Solicitors: Self-represented Applicant Health Care Complaints Commission (Respondent)
File Number(s):	2020/43054
Decision under appeal	Court or tribunal: Supreme Court Jurisdiction: Common Law Citation: [2020] NSWSC 13 Date of Decision: 03 February 2020 Before: N Adams J File Number(s): 2018/385664