McGuire v New Zealand Law Society [2018] NZCA 30 (1 March 2018)

Last Updated: 9 March 2018

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND
CA638/2017 [2018] NZCA 30
BETWEEN	JEREMY JAMES MCGUIRE Applicant
AND	NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY Respondent

Counsel:	Applicant in Person
Judgment: (On the papers)	1 March 2018 at 2.30 pm

JUDGMENT OF CLIFFORD J
(Review of Registrar’s Decision)

The application for review of the Registrar’s decision to waive filing fees is declined.
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[1] Mr McGuire is appealing a decision of the High Court upholding a finding of unsatisfactory conduct made against him by the Canterbury Westland Standards Committee. At the time of filing his notice of appeal, Mr McGuire also applied for a waiver of the filing fees for both his appeal and an associated application for leave to adduce further evidence.
[2] The Registrar declined that application. In doing so, she determined that neither of the conditions found in reg 5(2)(b) of the Court of Appeal Fees Regulations 2001 (the Fees Regulations) were satisfied.
[3] Mr McGuire has applied for that decision to be reviewed by a Judge of this Court. In doing so, he has asked that the Court give consideration to also waiving the setting down fee for his appeal. At this stage, it does not appear that any application has been made. An application must be made and a decision given, before Mr McGuire can review it.
[4] Regulation 5 of the Fees Regulations provides that a Registrar may waive a fee payable if the applicant is unable to pay the fee or the proceeding concerns a matter of genuine public interest and is unlikely to be commenced or continued unless the fee is waived.
[5] Mr McGuire accepts that the first ground is not available to him. His application is therefore based on a combination of the propositions that his appeal concerns a matter of genuine public interest and is unlikely to be commenced or continued unless the fee is waived.
[6] The two requirements are cumulative. Mr McGuire has confirmed that, irrespective of whether these fees are waived, he will continue with his appeal. He is, as he has put it to the Registrar, “ready to go”. Whether or not his appeal concerns a matter of genuine public interest, as to which I have considerable reservations, there is no basis upon which the Registrar may waive the fees.
[7] The application for a review of the Registrar’s decision declining to waive filing fees is declined.

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Clifford J