Evans v Smith

The appeal concerned a dispute over land ownership between the appellants, owners of Lot 41, and the first respondent, who claimed title to a portion of Lot 41 through adverse possession. The first respondent asserted that he and his predecessors in title had occupied the disputed land, referred to as the "contentious land," for decades, thereby extinguishing the appellants' paper title. The primary judge had found in favour of the first respondent, concluding that the appellants had lost title to the contentious land in 1989.

The legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the first respondent and his predecessors had demonstrated continuous exclusive possession of the contentious land with an intention to possess it, and whether the primary judge had erred in finding that the appellants' title had been extinguished in 1989. Additionally, the court considered the extent of relief to be granted, specifically whether any part of the contentious land beyond that conceded by the appellants in an open offer as curtilage should be declared to belong to the respondent.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders of the primary judge. The court reasoned that while the respondent had established a claim to ownership of the contentious land, the extent of that ownership was limited. The court declared the respondent to be the rightful owner of so much of the land in Lot 41 as comprised his house and its curtilage, as identified in a plan attached to the appellants' offer, but extended to include vehicular and pedestrian access from the respondent's land to the Unformed Road. The court ordered the respondent to pay the appellants' costs of both the proceedings at first instance and the appeal.