Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster: C.A. 95/81New Zealand. Court of Appeal
History
Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster: C.A. 95/81
New Zealand. Court of Appeal
Air New Zealand; Aircraft accidents; New Zealand. Royal Commission to Inquire into the Crash on Mount Erebus, Antarctica, of a DC10 Aircraft Operated by Air New Zealand Limited
In modern administrative law, as a result of developments in both case
and statute law, the power of the Courts to grant declarations and quash
decisions is wider than was thought in the _Reynolds_ case in 1909 (29
N.Z.L.R. at 40). It may be that in a sufficiently clear-cut case the
jurisdiction, either under the Act or at common law, will be found to
extend to parts of Commission reports even when they are not linked with
costs orders.
But in the end that jurisdictional question does not have to be decided
in this case, and we reserve our opinion on it. If the jurisdiction does
go so far, it must be discretionary, as the grant of declarations always
is. The Court would have to be satisfied that grounds so strong as to
require it to act in that unusual way had been made out. In our opinion
they would be made out clearly enough as regards paragraph 377, which
stands out from the general body of the report. But the quashing of the
costs order because of its association with that paragraph is enough to
do justice there.
The position is less clear as regards the other paragraphs complained
of. For various reasons they are all in a marginal category. What has
been said in this judgment may help to enable them to be seen in
perspective. On balance we would not be prepared to hold that as to
these other paragraphs the applicants have made out a sufficiently
strong case to justify this Court in interfering, assuming that there is
jurisdiction to do so.
In the result, the application for review having succeeded on the main
issue, we see no need to and are not prepared to go further in granting
relief. Our decision is simply that the $150,000 costs order be quashed
on the grounds already stated.
As to the costs of the present proceedings, they should be reserved, as
there has been no argument on the matter.
_Solicitors_
Russell McVeagh McKenzie Bartleet & Co., Auckland, for First and Second
Applicants.
Sheffield Young & Ellis, Auckland, for Third Applicant.
Crown Law Office, Wellington, for First, Fourth and Sixth Respondents.
Keegan Alexander Tedcastle & Friedlander, Auckland, for Fifth
Respondent.
C.A. 95/81
In the Court of Appeal of New Zealand--Between Air New Zealand Limited.
First Appellant, and Morrison Ritchie Davis, Second Appellant, and Ian
Harding Gemmell, Third Appellant, and Peter Thomas Mahon, First
Respondent, and the Attorney-General, Fourth Respondent, and New Zealand
Airline Pilots Association, Fifth Respondent, and the Attorney-General,
Sixth Respondent.
_Coram_
Woodhouse P.
Cooke J.
Richardson J.
McMullin J.
Somers J.
_Hearing_
5th-12th October 1981.
_Counsel_
L.W. Brown, Q.C., for first and second appellants, with R.J. McGrane.
D.A.R. Williams for third appellant, with L.L. Stevens.
G.P. Barton for first respondent, with R.S. Chambers.
C.J. McGuire for fourth respondent (Civil Aviation Division)--leave to
withdraw.
A.F. MacAlister for fifth respondent, with P.J. Davison.
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