Queanbeyan City Council v Kovacevic

Land and Environment Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Queanbeyan City Council v Kovacevic [2015] NSWLEC 152 Hearing dates:21 August 2013Date of orders: 25 September 2015 Decision date: 25 September 2015 Jurisdiction:Class 6Before: Craig J Decision: (1) Appeal allowed.(2) Set aside the order made by the Local Court at Queanbeyan dismissing the prosecution against the respondent.(3) Remit the matter to the Local Court at Queanbeyan for determination according to law.(4) Order that the respondent pay the appellant’s costs of the appeal.(5) The Appeal Book and Exhibit B may be returned. Catchwords: APPEAL – prosecutor appeal from dismissal of proceedings in the Local Court – s 42(2B)(b) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 – appeal confined to a question of law alone – whether appellant was the ‘prosecutor’ entitled to appeal under s 42(2B)(b) – whether appellant was the person responsible for the conduct of the prosecution in the Local Court – entitlement to lead evidence directed to that issue – dismissal of proceedings in the Local Court was an acquittal – whether s 42(2B)(b) founded a right by a prosecutor to appeal from an acquittal – offence against s 125(1) of Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 – failure to cease using premises as a transport depot – proper construction of definition of ‘transport depot’ in Queanbeyan Local Environmental Plan 1998 – disjunctive construction supported by text and context of the definition – appeal allowed – matter remitted to Local Court for determination – order for costs...