Vexatious litigant quizzes justices
2001-11-15
Vexatious litigant quizzes justices
Source: Dominion
Publication date: 2001-11-15
Arrival time: 2001-11-19
A CHRISTCHURCH man who asked a panel of Court of Appeal justices to declare their religious and social affiliations to assess any bias lost his bid to take his case to the Privy Council.
John Michael Collier had been declared a vexatious litigant by Chief Justice Sian Elias on March 31 last year. This effectively froze any civil cases he was involved in and barred him from beginning any new ones. He appealed against this and also asked for a retrial of an earlier case.
At the outset of the Court of Appeal hearing, Mr Collier asked Justices Gault and Potter and court president Sir Ivor Richardson to declare if they had any conflict of interest.
He asked them to declare if they belonged or had belonged to the religion of Islam, Judaism, Church of Scientology, Theosophical Society, Church of Latter Day Saints, Illuminati, Orange Lodge, Druid, Skull and Bones, Ku Klux Klan, or any society, organisation or group that required oaths to be taken that could conflict with the judicial oath.
He was concerned, if they were members of any of those groups, they could be biased against him because he was a Christian.
All three justices refused to disclose any affiliations. Mr Collier sought leave to appeal to the Privy Council. The justices declined his request and soon after he left, saying he was not going before a court that would not answer his questions.
The justices went on to decide on his appeal and retrial application without him. In a written decision issued yesterday, they dismissed both.
Publication date: 2001-11-15
Any text written by other authors which may be quoted in part or in full within this exposure of the Scientology cult is provided according to U. S. Code Title 17 "Fair Use" dictates which may be reviewed at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html If you're an author of an article and do not wish to allow it to be mirrored or otherwise provided on The Skeptic Tank web site, let us know and it will be removed fairly promptly.
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.