Rafiq v Privacy Commissioner [2014] NZCA 137 (10 April 2014)

Last Updated: 17 April 2014

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND
CA116/2014 [2014] NZCA 137
BETWEEN	RAZDAN RAFIQ Appellant
AND	THE PRIVACY COMMISSIONER Respondent

Counsel:	Appellant in Person K Evans for Respondent
Judgment: (On the papers)	10 April 2014 at 10.00 am

JUDGMENT OF HARRISON J

1. The application to review the Registrar’s decision refusing to dispense with security for costs is dismissed.

2. The appellant is to pay the sum of $5,880.00 by way of security for costs on or before 1 May 2014.

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REASONS

[1] On 31 March 2014 the appellant, Razdan Rafiq, applied to review a decision made by the Registrar on 18 March 2014 (erroneously dated 2013), 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 15 April 2014.
[2] 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. Furthermore, the appeal does not raise an issue of public importance or significance.
[3] The Registrar also gave weight to the unequivocal conclusion of Lang J, whose judgment is the subject of Mr Rafiq’s appeal, that his application to pursue a claim against the Privacy Commissioner lacked merit and it would be wrong to expose the Commissioner to the inevitable costs of defending a proceeding without any prospects of success.
[4] Mr Rafiq has requested that his application be referred to Harrison J for determination to enable the initiation of a further appeal to the Supreme Court.
[5] 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 1 May 2014.

Solicitors:
Crown Law Office, Wellington for Respondent