Siemer v Heron

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

[2013] NZCA 204

BETWEEN

VINCENT ROSS SIEMER
Appellant

AND

MICHAEL RICHARD HERON
First Respondent

RUSSELL McVEAGH
Second Respondent

FORCE 1 SECURITY
Third Respondent

SIONE TANAKI
Fourth Respondent

PIO SAMI
Fifth Respondent

Court:

Wild J

Counsel:

T L Clarke and S P H Elliott for First and Second Respondents

Judgment:

(On the papers)

6 June 2013 at 11.30 am

JUDGMENT OF WILD J

The application by Mr Siemer to review the decision of the Registrar declining to accept Mr Siemer’s notice of appeal is dismissed.

____________________________________________________________________

Mr Siemer has sought to appeal to this Court from Wylie J’s decision delivered on 16 August 2012 Siemer v Heron.[1]
[1]Siemer v Heron [2012] NZHC 2073.
The Registrar of this Court has declined to accept Mr Siemer’s notice of appeal, for want of jurisdiction.
By notice filed on 3 October 2012 Mr Siemer applies for a review of the Registrar’s decision refusing to accept for filing his notice of appeal.
In a judgment I am delivering contemporaneously in Siemer v Heron (CA713/2012) I have detailed the background to this proposed appeal. I will therefore not do that again.
In that judgment (CA713/2012) I have also explained why Mr Siemer’s appeal to the High Court was deemed abandoned on 30 August 2012, and why from then on there was nothing to appeal from. I have referred to the Supreme Court’s judgment in Siemer v Heron in which the Supreme Court explains why that is the position.[2] I need not set all that out again in this judgment. It suffices to state that when, on 4 September 2012, Mr Siemer sought to appeal to this Court from Wylie J’s 16 August 2012 judgment, his appeal to the High Court had been deemed abandoned. He therefore no longer had any appeal extant in the High Court, in respect of which he could appeal to this Court. The Registrar of this Court was therefore correct to decline to accept his notice of appeal.
[2]Siemer v Heron [2011] NZSC 133 [2012] 1 NZLR 309 at [35]–[36], [38] and [41].
Having reviewed the Registrar’s decision declining to accept Mr Siemer’s notice of appeal I uphold it. I dismiss his application to review that decision.

Solicitors:
Bell Gully, Auckland for First and Second Respondents

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Vincent Ross Siemer sought to appeal against a decision of the Registrar of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, who had declined to accept his notice of appeal. The appeal was in relation to a decision made by Wylie J in a case against Michael Richard Heron. The appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Registrar of the Court of Appeal had correctly declined to accept Mr Siemer’s notice of appeal. The Court had to consider whether there was an extant appeal in the High Court that Mr Siemer could appeal to the Court of Appeal from. The Court had to determine if the appeal to the High Court had been properly abandoned and if the Registrar’s decision was justified.

The Court held that Mr Siemer’s appeal to the High Court had been deemed abandoned on 30 August 2012, and as such, there was no appeal extant in the High Court for Mr Siemer to appeal to the Court of Appeal from. The Court found that the Registrar had correctly declined to accept Mr Siemer’s notice of appeal, as there was no appeal to the Court of Appeal from. The Court dismissed Mr Siemer’s application for a review of the Registrar’s decision.

The Court found that the Registrar of the Court of Appeal was correct in declining to accept Mr Siemer’s notice of appeal. The Court dismissed Mr Siemer’s application to review the Registrar’s decision.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established