Trust Company Limited v Chief Executive, Department of Environment and Resource Management

Trust Company Limited sought to appeal a decision by the Chief Executive, Department of Environment and Resource Management, and filed a notice of appeal eleven months after the deadline. The Chief Executive argued the Land Court lacked jurisdiction because the appeal was filed out of time. The issue for the court was whether the late filing of the appeal notice could be excused. The court considered whether the presumption of receipt of mail could be rebutted and found that it could be, based on the evidence provided by Trust Company Limited's representative. The court found that the notice of decision on objection was not received by Trust Company Limited prior to their inquiry of the Department on 21 August 2009. The court concluded that reasonable excuse had been established and that the Court had jurisdiction to proceed with the appeal. The final order was that the Court had jurisdiction to hear the appeal.