Chaw v Jenkinson [2017] FCA 1292

Procedural Posture

Application for Leave to Appeal / Application for Leave to Appeal From a Federal Circuit Court Decision Summarily Dismissing the Applicant's Application as an Abuse of Process and as Having No Reasonable Prospects of Success; Determined on the Papers by Consent.

Legal Issues

1. 1 ["Whether leave to appeal should be granted from the Federal Circuit Court's interlocutory summary dismissal decision." 'Whether the Federal Circuit Court decision was attended by sufficient doubt to warrant reconsideration.' 'Whether the applicant would suffer substantial injustice if leave to appeal were refused.' 'Whether the primary judge made an appellable error in characterising the proceeding as an abuse of process, vexatious, and lacking a disclosed reasonable cause of action.']

Ratio Decidendi

Leave to appeal was refused because the applicant's proposed appeal had no reasonable prospect of success and no substantial injustice would be suffered if leave were refused. The grounds merely asserted error at a high level of generality without identifying any error of law or fact, the primary judge's discretionary approach to summary dismissal disclosed no House v R error, the applicant was plainly seeking to re-agitate the same claim previously lost before NCAT, and the materials below identified no proper basis for alleging misleading conduct by the respondent as distinct from Coverall NSW.

Court Disposition

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.

Orders

• ['The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.' "The applicant is to pay the respondent's costs as agreed or assessed."]