A dead person cannot be sued, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
"It is a complete breach of the rules of natural justice to allow a party to proceed to a hearing against a deceased opponent," Justices Robert Chambers, John McGrath and Grant Hammond said.
In a decision issued last week, the
court refused to grant William Cathie leave to appeal against a High Court ruling. That ruling struck out a District Court judgment in Mr Cathie's favour against a defendant who had died more than 18 months earlier.
Mr Cathie had been in a legal dispute with Zoltan Shardy since 1992 over repiling work at Dr Shardy's home. The matter was unresolved when Dr Shardy died in 2000.
In late 2001, Mr Cathie was awarded $5406 against the late Dr Shardy in the Wellington District Court.
But Dr Shardy's executor, Alphonso Simes, who had not been aware of the hearing, applied to have the judgment set aside. The District Court refused to do so, saying the executor had no standing in the matter.
However, that decision was set aside by Justice Eddie Durie in the High Court.
In dismissing Mr Cathie's application for leave to appeal against Justice Durie's ruling, the Court of Appeal said his argument was untenable.
"The whole procedural imbroglio arises from a misguided attempt to obtain a judgment against a dead man and to avoid having to deal with live opposition in the form of the dead man's executor."
The judges said Mr Cathie should have sued Dr Shardy's estate, then Mr Simes would have been able to defend the claim.
They ordered Mr Cathie to pay $3000 in costs to Mr Simes and referred the original claim back to the District Court.
- NZPA
