PEDEN v DANE [1997] NSWCA 245

PEDEN v DANE

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES — COURT OF APPEAL

MASON P and HANDLEY JA 23 June 1997

[1997] NSWCA 245

Mason P. Mr Peden filed a summons in which he sought leave to appeal and an extension of time in which to challenge a decision of Acting Judge Hughes in the District Court in proceedings which were heard and decided on 24 February 1997.

The summons originally came before the Court of Appeal on 28 April 1997 when I sat with Mr Justice Priestley. At that stage a notice of appeal had not been filed, and because Mr Peden was then indicating that he challenged the fairness of the proceedings, the matter was stood over to enable Mr Peden to obtain a copy of the transcript of the trial and to draft a notice of appeal.

Mr Peden has now filed a notice of appeal and he has today handed up to the Court a transcript together with a number of other documents some of whichwere put in evidence before Judge Hughes, others of which were documents which Mr Peden has obtained and would wish to rely upon.

When the matter started today, Mr Peden indicated that he wished, for reasons which are understandable, not to proceed to challenge anything except the order for costs that was made by Judge Hughes. In the course of indicating why he wants to make that challenge, Mr Peden has taken us in part to some of the matters of substance which concern him.

Mr Peden's wife died on 2 November 1989. It is obvious that he was very attached to her and that he was and remains very concerned about the cause of her death. To this day, the Court was informed, Mr Peden is unaware of the cause of his wife's death.

Nevertheless in 1995 he commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court in which he alleged that Dr Dane had been negligent in the treatment of Mrs Peden. Those proceedings were remitted to the District Court and were set down for hearing in that Court.