Greer v Attorney-General CA5/06

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand heard an appeal against the decision of Miller J in the High Court at Wellington, which dismissed the appellant's application for habeas corpus. The appellant, Alan Ivo Greer, had been convicted of several offences and sentenced to imprisonment. He applied for habeas corpus on the basis that he was denied his rights of appeal due to deficiencies in the warrants of commitment and alleged mishandling of his appeal documents by the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal found that the appellant's complaints did not render his detention unlawful and dismissed the appeal.

The primary legal issue in this case was whether the appellant's complaints regarding the denial of his rights of appeal justified his release from custody under the writ of habeas corpus. The Court of Appeal needed to determine if the appellant's claims were properly susceptible to fair and sensible summary determination within the habeas corpus proceedings or if they should be addressed in judicial review proceedings. Additionally, the Court needed to assess whether the rejection of the appellant's appeal documents by the Court of Appeal Registry resulted in an unlawful detention.

The Court of Appeal held that the appellant's detention was lawful as his convictions and resulting sentence had not been set aside. The Court found that the rejection of the appellant's appeal documents, whether justified or not, did not render his detention unlawful. The appropriate remedy for the appellant was to pursue his application to appeal, and the Court took steps to facilitate that in its minute of 18 May. Therefore, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and affirmed that the appellant's detention was lawful, as his convictions and resulting sentence had not been set aside. The Court found that the appellant's complaints did not justify his release from custody under the writ of habeas corpus and that the appropriate remedy was for the appellant to pursue his application to appeal.