Judge has costs opinion confirmed

Press, 1 December 1987, Page 17

Judge has costs opinion confirmed

Costs could not be ordered against a lawyer because his absence had caused a defended hearing to be adjourned, Judge Noble was told in the District Court yesterday. Judge Noble had asked the Crown solicitor, Mr David Saunders, last week to check whether there was jurisdiction to make a costs order against a lawyer. He had been told that counsel for Kevin Francis Meates, on five customs and sales tax charges, Mr Barrie Atkinson, Q.C., had gone to Malaysia as an international observer at a hearing last week when he was to appear in the part-heard case in Christchurch. Judge Noble was critical of Mr Atkinson’s “grave discourtesy to the court,” and adjourned the case to yesterday for a new hearing date to be

set. However, Mr Saunders told the court the registrar was not able to allocate a new date for the hearing, and asked for an adjournment to January 25, the first miscellaneous case list day for next year. A date would be set then. Mr Saunders said he had checked the question on costs, raised by the Judge last week. “In my submission, there is no jurisdiction to make an order such as your Honour had in mind,” he said. “I suspected that was the position. That confirms it,” said Judge Noble. Mr Atkinson said it now seemed the case would continue for a week instead of the three days originally set aside, because of the large number of witnesses to be called.

He suggested that it would assist those involved in the case, if the evidence heard in October were transcribed, but Judge Noble said this had already been done, and a copy could be made available. Meates, a former All Black, faces charges of conspiring with two people in Hong Kong to import toy components on false documentation, and consenting to the false documents being presented to Customs. He is also charged with evading duty by consenting to a false invoice being produced. Alternative sales tax charges have been laid alleging that he conspired to import the goods with false documents, and that he imported the goods on false documents, evading sales tax of $36,207. Meates has denied all the charges.