Motuliki v The Queen - [2021] NZCA 260

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

I TE KŌTI PĪRA O AOTEAROA

CA414/2019
[2021] NZCA 260

BETWEEN	OFA MOTULIKI Appellant
AND	THE QUEEN Respondent

Hearing:	17 June 2021
Court:	Brown, Brewer and Davison JJ
Counsel:	No appearance by the Appellant M J Lillico for Respondent E P Priest (standby counsel)
Judgment:	17 June 2021
Reasons:	18 June 2021 at 4.00 pm

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

Appeal dismissed for want of prosecution.

____________________________________________________________________

REASONS OF THE COURT

(Given by Brown J)

This appeal was set down for hearing at midday on 17 June 2021. Mr Motuliki did not attend. Consequently his appeal is dismissed for want of prosecution.

Solicitors:
Crown Law Office, Wellington for Respondent

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2021] NZCA 260
Decision Date: 17 June 2021

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand heard an appeal brought by Ofa Motuliki against the Crown, with the case being titled Motuliki v The Queen. The appeal was dismissed for the failure of the appellant to prosecute. The appellant, Mr Motuliki, did not attend the hearing, which was set down for midday on 17 June 2021, leading to the dismissal of his appeal.

The primary legal issue that the Court of Appeal had to address was whether the appellant's non-attendance at the scheduled hearing constituted sufficient grounds to dismiss the appeal. The Court considered the rules and precedents governing the dismissal of appeals for want of prosecution and determined that the appellant's absence warranted such a dismissal.

In delivering the judgment, Brown J noted that the appeal was set for hearing on 17 June 2021, but Mr Motuliki did not attend. The Court found that the appellant's failure to appear at the hearing resulted in the dismissal of his appeal for want of prosecution. The judgment was given on the same day as the hearing, and the reasons were provided the following day, on 18 June 2021.

The Court's final order was the dismissal of the appellant's appeal for want of prosecution. This decision was based on the appellant's non-attendance at the scheduled hearing, which the Court found to be a valid ground for dismissing the appeal.

Orders