New Zealand Real Estate Appellate Tribunal
The Real Estate Tribunal, an independent body, is an effective forum where members can raise issues, make recommendations and bring matters before the Tribunal for consideration. The Real Estate Tribunal is an extraordinary statutory body that meets to determine disputes about the proper handling of land and related matters. It consists of one member from each of the state bodies who have been authorized by the Appropriation act to represent the people at the Tribunal and is headed by a chairman who is an independent statutory board. The Chairperson’s duties are to: advise the public on matters relating to real estate; administer oaths and affirmations; discharge reports; and give advice on matters that the public may consider important to the proper handling of real estate.
The Central Advisory Council, which is a statutory body of the Ministry of Finance and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, performs the other functions of the real estate tribunal. The CAC undertakes a wide range of functions and responsibilities for the regulation of real estate. In addition to these duties, the CAC is also responsible for the maintenance of standards of conduct for the practitioners in the real estate sector. The CAC is an advisory body that is entirely controlled by the Ministry of Finance.
The Appellate Tribunal is the highest court of the country and is headed by a single judge who is an independent statutory board. This court is empowered by law to hear and determine complaints about: whether there has been miscarriage of justice or other miscarriage of amenity; whether there has been an abuse of process or undue delay in the performance of an official procedure; and whether an application for review of an order of the high court is justified. There is usually no right to an appeal from the Appellate Tribunal unless it is an absolute doubt that the order cannot be sustained. Reviewing agencies are subject to the jurisdiction of the High Court and this right can be exercised in cases where there is a question of interpretation of the law or of facts upon which the review is based. If the matter goes to the High Court, three judges constitute the majority of the Appellate Tribunal who is known as the Federal Magistrates.
There are three levels of high courts: the Circuit, Federal and High Court. The trial court system, created by Acts of Parliament, consists of the county courts and the district courts. The circuit court system is divided into civil court systems which consist of county courts and the high court. Civil procedures are governed by common law rules.
There are two levels of tribunals: the Appellate Tribunal and the Reviewatory Tribunal. The Appellate Tribunal is headed by a member of the Institute of Chartered Surveyors of New Zealand (ICANN). The members of the Reviewatory Tribunal are qualified attorneys who have served on the boards of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Surveyors (NZICOM) and the Office of the Attorney-General. The Appellate Tribunal is empowered to entertain the claims of any person or organization that has claimed an entitlement to an award made under the Civil Procedure Rules. It may also order any party to pay the costs of a party who appeared at the hearing if the party cannot afford to pay the costs.
There are two types of high courts: the High Court and the Federal High Court. The High Court comprises the High Courts of each of the States of New Zealand: the High Court of Justice, the High Bench of Justice, the High Division, the High Commission, and the Registry of the Supreme Court. The Federal Court consists of the Federal Justice, the High Court, the High Tribunal, the High Law Court and the High Civil Registry. All the High Courts have the power to grant leave to the parties to decide questions of law and order that relate to the proceedings of the courts. All the other technical members of the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal are certified judicial members and have been admitted to the Bar of New Zealand under the Law Society of New Zealand (NZ) Act 1987.