Slavich v R

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

CA38/2012
[2012] NZCA 432

BETWEEN JOHN KENNETH SLAVICH
Appellant

AND THE QUEEN
Respondent

Court: O'Regan P, Harrison and White JJ

Counsel: Appellant in Person
B C L Charmley for Respondent

Judgment: 21 September 2012 at 11 am

On the papers

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

The appeal is dismissed.

REASONS OF THE COURT

(Given by Harrison J)

John Slavich appeals against a decision of Heath J given in the High Court at Hamilton on 13 December 2011[1] dismissing an application to set aside or recall his decision delivered on 12 October 2006[2] convicting Mr Slavich of various dishonesty offences.
[1] Slavich v New Zealand Police HC Hamilton CIV-2006-419-89, 13 December 2011.
[2] R v Slavich (verdict) HC Hamilton CIV-2006-419-89, 12 October 2006.
Mr Slavich appealed against his 2006 conviction in the High Court. This Court dismissed his appeal on 15 May 2009.[3] Mr Slavich applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. On 10 August 2009 his application for leave was declined.[4] On 13 September 2011 the Supreme Court dismissed Mr Slavich’s application to recall its earlier decision.[5] On 22 November 2011 this Court dismissed Mr Slavich’s application for an order recalling its 2009 decision.[6] Mr Slavich has since applied again to this Court to recall its 2009 and 2011 decisions. In a decision delivered contemporaneously with this judgment we have dismissed that application.[7]
[3]      R vSlavich [2009] NZCA 188.
[4]      Slavich v R [2009] NZSC 87.
[5]      Slavich v R [2011] NZSC 103.
[6]      Slavich v R [2011] NZCA 586.
[7]      Slavich v R [2012] NZCA 431.
We are satisfied that Heath J correctly dismissed Mr Slavich’s application to recall for want of jurisdiction on the ground that it was a collateral attack on the earlier judgments of this Court and the Supreme Court, which had fully considered and determined the same issues which Mr Slavich now seeks to raise and argue again.
We are satisfied also that Mr Slavich’s appeal is an abuse of this Court’s process.
The appeal is dismissed.

Solicitors:
Crown Law Office, Wellington for Respondent

CaseChat Overview and Summary

John Kenneth Slavich sought to appeal against a decision by Heath J dismissing his application to set aside his conviction for various dishonesty offences. The Court of Appeal of New Zealand heard the matter. The appeal was dismissed by O'Regan P, Harrison and White JJ. The appellant appeared in person while the respondent was represented by counsel. The court was required to decide whether the appellant's application to recall the decision of the Court of Appeal was a collateral attack on the earlier judgments and if it amounted to an abuse of process. The Court found that the application was a collateral attack and dismissed the appeal as an abuse of process.

The Court held that Heath J was correct in dismissing the application as it was a collateral attack on the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, which had already fully considered and determined the same issues. The Court of Appeal was satisfied that the appellant's appeal was an abuse of its process. The appeal was dismissed, and the decision of Heath J was upheld.

No final orders were made in this particular judgment, as the appeal was dismissed. However, the dismissal of the appeal reinforces the earlier decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, maintaining the conviction of the appellant for the various dishonesty offences.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established