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LAND ADMINISTRATION ACT 1997 - SECT 223

LAND ADMINISTRATION ACT 1997 - SECT 223

223 .         Court action for compensation, commencing and procedure on

        (1)         A claimant may not commence or maintain an action for compensation except as provided in section 220 or 221.

        (2)         A claimant may not commence proceedings unless the claimant has given the acquiring authority 30 days notice.

        (3)         If a person is entitled to bring an action for compensation under this Part, the action may be commenced and maintained in a court of competent jurisdiction and is to be heard and determined in the same manner as ordinary actions, with ordinary rights of appeal in regard to the amount of compensation awarded or to any question of law or fact or of mixed law and fact, except that no question is to be determined by a jury.

        (4)         If an action for compensation has been instituted in respect of the taking of an interest in any portion of land, the court may, on the application of the defendant, by order direct any other person claiming compensation in respect of the taking of any interest in that portion of land, or who appears to have had, at the date of the taking, an interest in that portion of land, to join as a plaintiff in the action within a time specified in the order.

        (5)         If a person so ordered fails to join as a plaintiff in the action within the time specified in the order, the person is absolutely debarred thereafter from instituting an action for compensation against the defendant or from referring to the State Administrative Tribunal any claim for compensation in respect of that portion of land.

        (6)         If, because of the joinder of a new plaintiff or for any other reason, the total compensation claimed in an action for compensation exceeds the jurisdiction of the court concerned —

            (a)         that court is to refrain from proceeding further with the action; and

            (b)         the action may, on application by any party to a court of competent jurisdiction, be removed to that court and is to proceed in that court as if it had been instituted in that court.

        (7)         If the title of the claimant to an interest or part of an interest is being disputed, the proceedings under this section, unless the claimant admits the objection to the claimant’s title, are to be adjourned pending the judgment of the Supreme Court on that issue under section 216.

        (8)         On the trial of the action, the court is to —

            (a)         determine the amount of compensation payable by the defendant to the plaintiff in respect of the taking of the interest in land, having regard solely to the provisions of this Part and in particular to the matters prescribed in Division 5 and section 256; and

            (b)         if 2 or more persons are entitled to share the compensation — determine the amount payable to each person and the manner in which it is to be paid.

        (9)         The costs of the action are at the discretion of the court.

        [Section 223 amended: No. 55 of 2004 s. 569; No. 4 of 2023 s. 92.]