Rafailidis v Roads and Maritime Services

The appeal concerned a dispute between Mr Rafailidis and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) regarding the compulsory acquisition of land. The matter came before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales, comprising Beazley P, Basten and Ward JJA.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Land and Environment Court had jurisdiction to hear the appeal under section 66 of the *Land Acquisition (Just Terms) Act 1991* (NSW), specifically in circumstances where no question of law was raised.

The Court of Appeal held that section 66 of the *Land Acquisition (Just Terms) Act 1991* (NSW) conferred jurisdiction on the Land and Environment Court to hear appeals from decisions of the Land Valuation Tribunal only where a question of law was involved. As no question of law was identified in the present appeal, the Court found that the Land and Environment Court lacked the necessary jurisdiction.

Consequently, the appeal against the judgment of Craig J delivered on 11 February 2014 was dismissed, and the application for leave to appeal against the judgment of Sheahan J delivered on 18 March 2014 was refused.