Zepinic v Health Care Complaints Commission (No 3)

[2021] NSWCA 25

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

1. 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).

2. 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).

3. Dr Zepinic’s notice of motion filed on 16 December 2020 is accordingly dismissed with costs.

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Decision last updated: 04 March 2021