Rafiq v Google New Zealand Limited

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

CA174/2014
[2014] NZCA 320

BETWEEN	RAZDAN RAFIQ Appellant
AND	GOOGLE NEW ZEALAND LIMITED Respondent

Counsel:

Appellant in Person
T Walker for Respondent

Judgment:

(On the papers)

14 July 2014 at 10 am

JUDGMENT OF HARRISON J

AThe application to review the Registrar’s decision refusing to dispense with security for costs is dismissed.
BThe appellant is to pay the sum of $5,880.00 by way of security for costs on or before 30 July 2014.

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REASONS

On 26 May 2014 the appellant, Razdan Rafiq, applied to review a decision made by the Registrar on 15 May 2014, declining his application to dispense with security for costs on this appeal. She directed that the security be set at $5,880.00 and be paid on or before 12 June 2014.
The grounds for the Registrar’s direction were that Mr Rafiq had failed to establish it was in the interests of justice that costs be waived. In particular she was not satisfied that there were any exceptional circumstances justifying dispensation. Impecuniosity alone does not suffice.[1] Furthermore, the appeal does not raise an issue of public importance or significance.
[1]Fava v Zaghloul [2007] NZCA 498, (2008) 18 PRNZ 943 at [9].
The Registrar was also entitled to give weight to the conclusion of Associate Judge Doogue, whose judgment is the subject of Mr Rafiq’s appeal, that his application to pursue a claim against the Commissioner had little prospect of success.[2]
[2]Rafiq v Google New Zealand Ltd [2014] NZHC 551 at [14]–[16].
Mr Rafiq has failed to establish that the Registrar erred. Additionally I am independently satisfied that the appeal has no merit or prospects of success. The application to review is dismissed. Mr Rafiq is to pay the sum of $5,880.00 by way of security for costs on or before 30 July 2014.

Solicitors:
Simpson Grierson, Auckland for Respondent

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Razdan Rafiq, the appellant, filed an application in the Court of Appeal of New Zealand to review a decision made by the Registrar, who had previously declined to dispense with the requirement for security for costs in his appeal against Google New Zealand Limited, the respondent. The case was heard on the papers, and judgment was delivered on 14 July 2014 by Justice Harrison. The appeal was dismissed, and Rafiq was required to pay a sum of $5,880.00 by way of security for costs by 30 July 2014.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Registrar erred in declining Rafiq's application to be dispensed from the requirement to provide security for costs. This decision was based on the Registrar's conclusion that Rafiq had not established it was in the interests of justice to waive costs. The Registrar further determined that there were no exceptional circumstances justifying dispensation, and that the appeal did not raise an issue of public importance or significance. The Registrar also considered the Associate Judge's judgment that Rafiq's application to pursue a claim against the Commissioner had little prospect of success.

In dismissing the application to review, Justice Harrison found that Rafiq had not demonstrated any error in the Registrar's decision. The Court was satisfied that the appeal had no merit or prospects of success. Therefore, the application to review was dismissed, and Rafiq was required to pay the sum of $5,880.00 by way of security for costs by 30 July 2014.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established