MANEV and ORS v A L LEVINE PTY LTD [1996] NSWCA 338

MANEV and ORS v A L LEVINE PTY LTD SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

PRIESTLEY JA 12 February 1996, 17 May 1996 [1996] NSWCA 338

APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME FOR FILING APPEAL — application made five months after prescribed time for filing — consideration of chances of success of appeal — claimants had been defendants at trial — not legally represented — one proposed ground of appeal: denial of natural justice, alleged to be due to judge's refusal of adjournment to get legal representation — history of previous adjournments — unlikelihood of any of proposed grounds of appeal succeeding — application dismissed.

ORDER Application dismissed with costs.

Priestley JA This is a motion for an extension of time for the filing of an appeal against a judgment of his Honour Judge Downs QC in the District Court.

The plaintiff in the proceedings was AL Levine Pty Ltd. There were four defendants, Z, K, S and P Manev. Mrs S and Mr P Manev were the parents of Z and K Manev. The defendants all spoke Macedonian.

The judgment was for the plaintiff against the defendants in an amount of $79,440.93 and was delivered on 16 June 1995.

Mr P Maney died on 8 August 1995.

The notice of motion seeking an extension of time to appeal was filed on 14 December 1995.

In view of the significant delay on the part of the defendants in seeking to appeal, I think it is necessary for them to show they have some reasonable ground of appeal before I could consider exercising discretion in their favour by extending the time for them to start an appeal.

Before recording the suggested grounds of appeal I will summarise what happened in the proceedings in the District Court. The summary comes both from evidence before me, and from the District Court file, which was in this court's papers, and to which counsel referred without objection.