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Jul 30
2010
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ACC convicted of perverting the course of JusticePosted by: freefallnz on Jul 30, 2010 Tagged in: Untagged
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Is an apt headline in my humble opinion.
"Applicants before review are no longer informed that they have the right to exclude the Corporation from attending and the 1982 Act review process is being subverted by stealth to disadvantage the claimant and oust the jurisdiction of the Authority" Judge P J Cartwright. Langhorne v ACC
Very good news I imagine for all claimants whose claims are subject to the 1982 act.
IMHO the above Judgement also means that ACC has failed in its statutory duty under every later version of the acts to advise claimants whose claims fall under the 1977 & 1982 acts of their correct review rights. How many claimants have given up because the reviewer has stated "no Juristiction" at the instruction of ACC when ACC had no right to issue any instruction?
In fact I believe that Judge Cartwright has served notice to ACC that their illegal tactics and destruction of files will not be tolerated. Well at least not in his court!
Although I might note that several recent rulings show that the Judiciary is noting ACC's illegal antics. It's just a shame that nobody has yet to act on some of these findings.
ACC sought leave to appeal the Langhorne decision.
However ACC agreed and the High Court has now directed that ACC complies with the procedural ruling of the Accident Compensation appeal authority.
Accident Compensation Corporation v Langhorne HC Auckland CIV 2011-404-415 [2011] : (Judgements - Case Law - High Court of New Zealand)
Long term claimants whose cases fall under the 1982 act and who have been denied access to appeal/review or whose reviews have been determined under the 2001 act must consider that they now have grounds to apply for a late review on the basis that their cases were heard by the wrong Jurisdiction.