The ruling made on Wednesday by Supreme Court of Appeal Justice David Beach will not stop Jeffrey Sill continuing to fight the case and refusing to pay $9000 he owes Wodonga Council in legal fees.

Since December 2015, the Magistrates Court, County Court, Supreme Court and now Court of Appeal have all dismissed his arguments and upheld the $289 fine for failing to pay a fee to register his corgi Eckles.

Sill’s argument is that Wodonga Council does not exist and the Local Government Act is unlawful because a referendum on constitutional recognition of local government held in 1988 was unsuccessful.

He told The Border Mail on Wednesday the council “will get absolutely nothing out of this deal”.

“I’ll be getting legal fees out of them at the end of this, I’ll probably be suing them,” Sill said.

He said the courts would not listen to his case about the constitution.

Justice Beach said the previous Supreme Court judge had been patient when attempting to unravel the “opaque” submissions and Sill had no right to complain.

“Arguments, however, about whether there exists a copy of an Act bearing a ‘wet ink signature of the Governor and a wet ink signature with the Royal Seal of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second’ (whatever that might mean) are precluded,” Justice Beach said. 

“The applicant’s proposed appeal is totally without merit.”

Sill had not submitted documents to the Court of Appeal in time, after his case was dismissed in the Supreme Court in October 17, and yesterday’s ruling refused his application to make a case in person.

Justice Beach said even if the appeal had been lodged in time, “none of the applicant’s arguments were reasonably arguable or had any real prospect of success”.

Sill said he would not give up, and planned to lodge paperwork in the High Court within the week.

“They don’t want to hear my case because they know I’ll win it” he said.

“They’re not going to get away with it.”

Wodonga Council has previously stated it would pursue Sill for the $22.50 and $9000 in legal costs “so such action is not a burden on those in the community who do the right thing”.