Greenslade v Perry

Greenslade sought leave to appeal a decision of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal which determined the boundary between Greenslade’s land and Perry’s land and ordered Greenslade to build a fence on the boundary. The Tribunal found that the fence was not on the surveyed boundary. Perry claimed adverse possession of the land between the fence and the surveyed boundary. The Tribunal gave Perry the opportunity to bring a claim for adverse possession in the Supreme Court. The Tribunal did not consider the adverse possession claim, but ordered that the fence be built on the boundary. Greenslade appealed the Tribunal’s decision. Perry cross-appealed the Tribunal’s decision to give Perry the opportunity to bring an adverse possession claim in the Supreme Court.

The central legal issue was whether the Tribunal should have considered the adverse possession claim and whether there were grounds for leave to appeal. The Court had to determine whether the Tribunal was required to consider the adverse possession claim and, if not, whether the Tribunal’s failure to do so was a ground for leave to appeal.

The Court held that the Tribunal was not bound to consider the adverse possession claim as it was not a party to the proceedings. Furthermore, the Tribunal had given Perry the opportunity to bring an adverse possession claim in the Supreme Court, which was sufficient. The Court found that there were no grounds for leave to appeal as the Tribunal’s decision did not result in a substantial miscarriage of justice.

No further orders were made as leave to appeal was refused.