FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – CHILD SUPPORT – ENFORCEMENT ORDERS – Where the appellant sought leave to appeal against enforcement orders for the payment of child support liabilities and related penalties – Where the enforcement orders were made in respect of a declaration of liabilities made in May 1997 and further liabilities subsequently incurred – Where the appellant did not appeal from the declaration the subject of the enforcement proceedings – Where the appellant had repeatedly challenged, unsuccessfully, in first instance and appellate proceedings in the Federal Court and the High Court the constitutional validity of the Child Support Scheme giving rise to his liability – Where the primary grounds of appeal raised by the appellant in this appeal need not be directly addressed, having been previously raised by him in, and dismissed by, courts of binding or persuasive authority – Where there was no substance in any of the additional grounds of appeal agitated – Where the appellant failed to demonstrate an error of principle on the part of the Federal Magistrate, or a decision resulting in a substantial injustice to him – Leave to appeal refused.
FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – APPLICATION TO ADDUCE FURTHER EVIDENCE – Where the respondent Registrar sought to adduce in the appeal a document which clearly formed part of Exhibit 1 in the first instance proceedings and should have been in the appeal books however was omitted – Where such an issue should have been addressed by consent before the Regional Appeals Registrar, however an application was necessitated by the appellant’s unreasonable resistance – Application allowed.
FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – APPLICATION IN AN APPEAL – APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AND RELY ON FURTHER WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS – Where on two occasions subsequent to the hearing the appellant attempted to file and rely on further written submissions – Where the respondent Registrar opposed leave being granted –Where the appellant filed lengthy written submissions prior to, and made lengthy oral submissions at the hearing of the appeal – Where the appellant failed to demonstrate cogent reasons why leave should be granted – Where nothing contained in the further written submissions would affect the Court’s decision in the appeal – Application dismissed.
FAMILY LAW – APPEAL – COSTS – Where the appellant unreasonably resisted the respondent Registrar’s request to include a document which ought to have been included in the appeal books and therefore necessitated the application in an appeal to adduce further evidence – Where the appellant filed a wholly unmeritorious application in an appeal seeking to rely on additional further written submissions five months after the hearing – Where the appellant has been wholly unsuccessful in the appeal – Where the appellant agreed at the hearing of the appeal that if the appeal was unsuccessful his financial circumstances would not prevent him from meeting a costs order – Appellant ordered to pay the respondent Registrar’s costs of the appeal and the applications in an appeal, to be assessed.
NOTE: The period for seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court has not expired.