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Tobin v Chief Executive, Department of Corrections [2019] NZHC 2954 (12 November 2019)

Last Updated: 25 November 2019

ORAL JUDGMENT OF JAGOSE J

Parties/Counsel:

The Applicant, c/o Northland Region Corrections Facility, Kaikohe Marsden Woods Inskip Smith, Whangarei

TOBIN v CHIEF EXECUTIVE, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS [2019] NZHC 2954 [12 November 2019]

[1] Maxwell Tobin applies for a writ of habeas corpus.¹

[2] Mr Tobin currently is a prisoner in the Department of Corrections’ Northland Region Corrections Facility. Although Mr Tobin’s application nominally is issued against the Crown, the correct defendant is thus the Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections.

[3] Mr Tobin asserts his conviction for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm,² for which he was sentenced by Judge D J Orchard in the Kaikohe District Court on 12 October 2018 to four and a half years’ imprisonment, was based on unreliable evidence. He also complains his appeal has been stymied by the police and judiciary. And he perceives he has “been forced into subjugation and contract with a Crown fiction” as retaliatory measures for his previous actions.

[4] Be that as it may, it is for the Chief Executive to establish Mr Tobin’s detention is lawful.³ I may not question Mr Tobin’s conviction by the District Court.⁴ His challenge to the Judge’s underlying determination cannot fairly be determined in habeas corpus’ summary process.⁵ I am satisfied Mr Tobin is detained under a valid warrant signed by the Judge.

[5] Mr Tobin’s application accordingly is declined.




—Jagose J

¹ Habeas Corpus Act 2001, s 6.

² Crimes Act 1961, s 188(1); maximum term of 14 years’ imprisonment.

³ Habeas Corpus Act 2001, s 14(1).

⁴ Section 14(2).

5. Manuel v Superintendent of Hawkes Bay Regional Prison [2005] 1 NZLR 161 (CA) at [49]; and see, for example, Kim v Prison Manager, Mount Eden Corrections Facility [2012] NZSC 121, [2013] 2 NZLR 589 at [29].