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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> Jacobs v Waner [2001] EWCA Civ 1612 (5 October 2001)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2001/1612.html
Cite as: [2001] EWCA Civ 1612
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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO APPEAL
AND AN EXTENSION OF TIME
Strand London WC2 Friday, 5th October 2001 |
||
B e f o r e :
____________________
| JACOBS | ||
| Respondent | ||
| - v - | ||
| WANER | ||
| Applicant |
____________________
Smith Bernal Reporting Limited, 190 Fleet Street,
London EC4A 2HD
Tel: 0171 421 4040
Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
The Respondent was not represented and did not attend
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
- LORD JUSTICE THORPE: By notice dated 9th July 2001 Tracy Waner seeks to appeal the order and judgment of Mr Justice Johnson given in the Family Division on 13th February 2001.
- The first point to be made is that the application is grossly out of time. The explanations given for that default do not seem to me to be either plausible or satisfactory. The order made in the court below was an unusual order it must be said. There had been extremely acrimonious divorce proceedings between Dr Benjamin Jacobs and Miss Tracy Waner, principally in Canada and only secondarily in this jurisdiction. The proceedings had involved the Jewish community in Toronto. The petition for dissolution in this jurisdiction was brought by Dr Jacobs at a time when he doubted whether the marriage would be dissolved on the petition in Canada. But before Mr Justice Johnson it was established that the eventual Canadian decree was good on its face and entitled to recognition within this jurisdiction. Accordingly, the order made on Dr Jacobs' application and in the absence of the respondent was that the Canadian divorce was good in law in this jurisdiction and had had the effect of dissolving the marriage with effect from 17th July 2000.
- In those circumstances the court refused to make absolute the decree of 23rd June 2000 in this jurisdiction and terminated the proceedings. Unusually the judge went on to declare that a letter that had been obtained and relied upon by Tracy Waner dated 6th June 2000 was a false document in that it had not been signed as it purported to have been signed by the principal of the Associated Hebrew Schools in Toronto, Rabbi Brumer, or Mr Rosenfield or Miss Freeman.
- Finally, the judge ordered the respondent to pay the costs of the proceedings in this court.
- It is to be noted that although the respondent did not attend the hearing the judge found that she had had notice, having acknowledged by letter the date set. Plainly it is the third and fourth paragraphs of the order below that concern Tracy Waner and which have provoked this application. However on a fair reading I am perfectly satisfied that the judge was entitled to reach the conclusion that the letter of 6th December 2000 as presented was a false document and in the exercise of his discretion generally he was entitled to condemn the respondent in the costs of the proceedings.
- Accordingly, I see no merit in this application for permission. That is a judgment reached on the documents and upon the applicant's skeleton argument. She has not attended this morning to pursue her application. I have no hesitation in dismissing it in her absence.