Zepinic v Health Care Complaints Commission (No 3)

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.