Kovacevic v Queanbeyan City Council

The prosecutor, Queanbeyan City Council, appealed to the Land and Environment Court against the Local Court's dismissal of summary proceedings concerning an alleged environmental offence. The offence, under section 125(1) of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW), involved the failure to cease using premises as a "transport depot" as defined in the Queanbeyan Local Environment Plan 1998. The appeal was brought pursuant to section 42(2B)(b) of the *Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001* (NSW).

The central legal issues before the Court were twofold. Firstly, it was necessary to determine whether the Council qualified as the "prosecutor" for the purposes of bringing an appeal under the *Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001*. This involved considering the definition of "prosecutor" within that Act and its relationship with the definition of "prosecutor" in the *Criminal Procedure Act 1986* (NSW). Secondly, the Court was required to interpret the meaning of "transport depot" as defined in the Queanbeyan Local Environment Plan 1998, specifically whether the parking of vehicles connected to a business, industry, or shop necessarily involved the transport of something.

The Court held that the Council was indeed the "prosecutor" for the purposes of the appeal. It reasoned that the definition of "prosecutor" in the *Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001* was broad enough to encompass a council prosecuting an environmental offence, and that the definition in the *Criminal Procedure Act 1986* did not restrict this broader meaning in the context of an appeal under the former Act. Regarding the environmental offence, the Court found that the definition of "transport depot" did not require that the parking of vehicles used in connection with a business, industry, or shop must involve the transport of something. The appeal was therefore allowed, and the matter was remitted to the Local Court for re-hearing.