Dickson v R (No 3)

THE COURT: Judgment on this appeal was delivered on 10 June 2016 ([2016] NSWCCA 105). By its judgment of 27 August 2018 this Court dismissed an application by Mr Dickson to re-open the appeal ([2018] NSWCCA 183). The Court held that it had no jurisdiction to do that as the appeal had been finally disposed of long before Mr Dickson filed his application.

On 10 September 2018 Mr Dickson made an application for this Court to set aside its judgment of 27 August 2018 and consequently re-open the appeal disposed of by its earlier judgment of 10 June 2016.

Because Mr Dickson’s latest application was filed within 14 days of the judgment of 27 August 2018, the Court has power to set that judgment aside (r 50C(3) of the Criminal Appeal Rules), although not the judgment of 10 June 2016. Neither the submissions forming part of Mr Dickson’s current application nor those provided by him on about 4 October 2018 however identify any arguable basis for the Court to take that course. In particular, Mr Dickson provides no basis for doubting the correctness of the Court’s conclusion on 27 August 2018 that it had no jurisdiction to set aside the earlier judgment disposing of the appeal.

In these circumstances, it is appropriate that Mr Dickson’s application of 10 September 2018 be dealt with on the papers and be dismissed. We order accordingly.