Application for extension of time to appeal – refusal where appeal “would be hopeless” and “could not possibly succeed” – striking out of appeals as an abuse of process – whether right-thinking people would regard the court as exercising very poor control of its process if it was to permit the matter to proceed further  

O’Neill v Maidment [2025] NZCA 268

Christopher O’Neill brought three judicial review proceedings, each of which was later struck out by a High Court judge as an abuse of process under rule 5.35 High Court Rules 2016.

The first proceeding (CA541/2024) was brought against Rex Maidment, the Legal Complaints Review Officer (LCRO) and a Ministry of Justice official who provided administrative support. In a judgment given on 21 December 2023, Moore J concluded that the application disclosed no reviewable error in any aspect of the LCRO’s actions and decisions and struck the proceeding out as an abuse of process.