Division 116 Jurisdiction of the Court generally
(1) The Court shall have the jurisdiction vested in it by or under this or any other Act.(1A) The Court also has jurisdiction to hear and dispose of any matter not falling within its jurisdiction under any other provision of this Act or under any other Act, being a matter that is ancillary to a matter that falls within its jurisdiction under any other provision of this Act or under any other Act.(2) For the purposes of this Act, the jurisdiction of the Court is divided into 8 classes, as provided in this Division.
17 Class 1—environmental planning and protection appeals
The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 1” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of the following:(a) appeals under Part 9.2 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997,(aa) appeals under section 62J of the Sydney Water Catchment Management Act 1998,(b) appeals under section 114 of the Pesticides Act 1999,(ba), (bb) (Repealed)(c) appeals under section 368 of the Water Management Act 2000,(ca) appeals under section 54 of the Biological Control Act 1985,(cb), (cc) (Repealed)(d) appeals, objections and applications under sections 75K, 75L, 75Q, 75W (5), 95A, 96, 96A, 97, 97AA, 98, 98A, 109K, 121ZK, 121ZM, 121ZS and 149F of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979,(da) (Repealed)(e) appeals under section 30, 70, or 70A of the Heritage Act 1977 and appeals remitted to the Court under section 77 (1) (b) of the Heritage Act 1977 in respect of applications under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979,(ea) appeals under section 106 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995,(eb) appeals under section 126ZF, 126ZS or 127ZZG of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995,(f) appeals under sections 37–40 of the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act 1985 and applications under section 44 (4) of that Act,(g) appeals under section 10 (7) or 39 of the Native Vegetation Act 2003,(h) appeals under Part 6 of the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997,(i) appeals under section 24 of the Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999,(j) appeals under section 35 (1) (a) or 45 (1) (a) of the Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2008, and(k) appeals under sections 90L and 91T of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.
18 Class 2—local government and miscellaneous appeals and applications
The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 2” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of the following:(a) appeals or objections under sections 176, 177, 178, 180, 182 and 611 of the Local Government Act 1993,(a1) appeals under sections 15 and 105, and applications under section 106, of the Roads Act 1993,(a2) appeals under section 307 of the Water Management Act 2000,(a3) proceedings under section 71X (5) of, or Schedule 1A to, the Water Management Act 2000,(b) appeals under section 3 (1) (a) of the Local Government (Regulation of Flats) Act 1955,(c) appeals under section 40 (4) of the Strata Schemes (Freehold Development) Act 1973 and under section 69 (4) of the Strata Schemes (Leasehold Development) Act 1986,(c1) appeals under section 16 of the Lake Illawarra Authority Act 1987,(c2) (Repealed)(c3) appeals under section 26 of the Swimming Pools Act 1992,(c4) appeals under section 25 of the Noxious Weeds Act 1993,(d) appeals remitted to the Court under section 77 (1) (b) of the Heritage Act 1977 other than appeals referred to in section 17 (e),(e) appeals under section 120L of the Heritage Act 1977,(f) proceedings under sections 28K and 28QA of the Strata Schemes (Freehold Development) Act 1973, under sections 51 and 57AA of the Strata Schemes (Leasehold Development) Act 1986 and under section 107 of the Community Land Management Act 1989,(g) applications under the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 (including applications involving the exercise of jurisdiction under the Dividing Fences Act 1991),(h) appeals under section 39 of the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2011.
19 Class 3—land tenure, valuation, rating and compensation matters
The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 3” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of the following:(a) appeals, references or other matters that may be heard and disposed of by the Court under the Crown Lands Act 1989, the Western Lands Act 1901 or Division 2 of Part 12 of the Roads Act 1993, being appeals, references or other matters that are not referred to in any other section of this Part,(b) appeals under section 37 (1) of the Valuation of Land Act 1916,(b1) (Repealed)(c) appeals against boundary determinations under Part 14A (Boundary determinations) of the Real Property Act 1900,(c1) proceedings under the Encroachment of Buildings Act 1922,(d) appeals and applications under sections 179, 181, 526 (and section 526 as applied by section 531), 574, 677 and 730 of the Local Government Act 1993,(e) claims for compensation by reason of the acquisition of land, referred to in Division 2,(e1) (Repealed)(e2) proceedings under sections 29, 30 and 31 of the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 2000,(e3) appeals under section 22 or 24 of the Lord Howe Island Act 1953,(f) proceedings under section 10 of the Growth Centres (Land Acquisition) Act 1974,(f1) appeals under section 12B of the Mine Subsidence Compensation Act 1961,(g) proceedings to recover compensation payable pursuant to sections 96A (7) and 121ZL of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979,(g1) appeals under section 44, 202 or 220AA of the Fisheries Management Act 1994,(g2) appeals under section 36 (7) or 174 of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983,(g3) references under section 175 of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983,(g4) claims for compensation under section 71X of the Water Management Act 2000,(g5) applications under section 40 (2) of this Act,(h) any other appeals, references or other matters which an Act provides may be heard and disposed of by the Court, being appeals, references or other matters that are not referred to in any other section of this Part.
20 Class 4—environmental planning and protection and development contract civil enforcement
(1) The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 4” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of the following:(a) proceedings under section 44 or 153 of the Heritage Act 1977,(aa) proceedings under section 282 of the Fisheries Management Act 1994,(b) proceedings referred to in section 35 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979,(ba) proceedings under section 10 of the Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Act 1986,(bb) proceedings under section 18 of the Ozone Protection Act 1989,(c) proceedings under section 123 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979,(ca) proceedings under section 57 of the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act 1985,(caa) proceedings under Division 6 of Part 3, Part 7 and section 96 of the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997,(cb) proceedings under section 96 of the Pesticides Act 1999,(cbb) proceedings under section 108 of the Pesticides Act 1999,(cc) proceedings under section 69S (Civil enforcement of certain conditions of approval) of the Forestry Act 2012,(cd) proceedings under section 60B of the Pipelines Act 1967,(ce) proceedings referred to in section 69G of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974,(cf) proceedings under section 91H of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974,(cg) proceedings under section 176A of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974,(cga) proceedings under sections 127L and 127O of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995,(ch) proceedings under section 27 of the Wilderness Act 1987,(ci) proceedings under Part 8.4 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997,(cia) proceedings under sections 247 and 307 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997,(cj) proceedings that have been transferred to the Court under section 149B of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (transferred civil proceedings),(cja) proceedings under section 100H of the Rural Fires Act 1997,(ck) proceedings under section 147 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995,(cl), (cm) (Repealed)(cn) proceedings under clauses 15–18 of Schedule 2 to the Rural Lands Protection Act 1998,(d) proceedings under sections 673 and 674 of the Local Government Act 1993,(da) applications under section 17 of the Restricted Premises Act 1943,(db) proceedings under section 15D of the Mine Subsidence Compensation Act 1961,(dc) proceedings under section 30 of the Swimming Pools Act 1992,(dd) proceedings under Division 5 of Part 7 of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983,(de) proceedings under section 41 of the Native Vegetation Act 2003,(df) (Repealed)(df1) proceedings under sections 335 and 336 of the Water Management Act 2000,(dg) proceedings under the Nature Conservation Trust Act 2001,(dh) proceedings under section 57 or 60 of the Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999,(di) proceedings under section 40 of the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2011,(e) proceedings referred to in subsection (2).(2) The Court has the same civil jurisdiction as the Supreme Court would, but for section 71, have to hear and dispose of the following proceedings:(a) to enforce any right, obligation or duty conferred or imposed by a planning or environmental law or a development contract,(b) to review, or command, the exercise of a function conferred or imposed by a planning or environmental law or a development contract,(c) to make declarations of right in relation to any such right, obligation or duty or the exercise of any such function,(d) whether or not as provided by section 68 of the Supreme Court Act 1970—to award damages for a breach of a development contract.(2A) The Court has jurisdiction to hear and dispose of proceedings referred to in subsection (1) (dd).(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a planning or environmental law is:(a) any of the following Acts or provisions:Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (other than Division 5 of Part 7),
Part 5A or 5B of the Forestry Act 2012,
Part 2 of Chapter 6, Chapter 7 or Chapter 15 of the Local Government Act 1993,
Schedule 3 to the Miscellaneous Acts (Planning) Repeal and Amendment Act 1979,
Part 5 of the Olympic Co-ordination Authority Act 1995,
Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Act 1986,
(b) any statutory instrument made or having effect thereunder or made for the purposes thereof, including any deemed environmental planning instrument within the meaning of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979,(c) (Repealed)as respectively in force at any time, whether before, on or after 1 September 1980.(3A) The Court (constituted by a Judge) may, by order, declare that any proceedings in the Court that it considers to be related or ancillary to transferred civil proceedings are to be dealt with together with the transferred civil proceedings. In the event of such an order being made, the proceedings that are the subject of the declaration may be dealt with under this Act as if they belonged to Class 4 of the Court’s jurisdiction even if they belong to a different class of the Court’s jurisdiction.(4) Subject to any adaptations prescribed by the rules, the provisions of the Supreme Court Act 1970, the Civil Procedure Act 2005 and the rules made under those Acts apply to the enforcement of a judgment or order of the Court in the same way as they apply to the enforcement of a judgment or order of the Supreme Court.(5) In this section, development contract means an agreement implied by section 15 of the Community Land Management Act 1989, section 28I of the Strata Schemes (Freehold Development) Act 1973 or section 49 of the Strata Schemes (Leasehold Development) Act 1986.
21 Class 5—environmental planning and protection summary enforcement
The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 5” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of the following in a summary manner:(a) proceedings under Parts 8.2 and 8.3 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997,(a1) proceedings under section 62B, 62E, 62F, 62I, 62Q, 62R, 62S, 62U, 62V, 63, 64 or 64A of the Sydney Water Catchment Management Act 1998 or offences under regulations made under that Act,(aa) proceedings under section 23 of the Ozone Protection Act 1989,(b) proceedings under Divisions 1, 3 and 4 of Part 10 of the Pesticides Act 1999,(ba)–(d) (Repealed)(da) proceedings under section 47 (5) of the Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2008,(e) proceedings under section 158 of the Heritage Act 1977,(f) proceedings under section 127 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979,(faa) proceedings under Part 10 of the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997,(fa) proceedings under section 12 of the Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Act 1986,(g) proceedings under section 691 of the Local Government Act 1993,(ga) proceedings under section 364 of the Water Management Act 2000.(gb) proceedings under section 277 (1) (c) of the Fisheries Management Act 1994,(gc) proceedings under section 53 of the Sydney Water Act 1994,(h) proceedings under section 176 (1AA) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974,(ha) proceedings under section 21 of the Very Fast Train (Route Investigation) Act 1989,(hb) proceedings under sections 127S, 127ZI and 127ZR of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995,(hc) proceedings for an offence under section 15 of the Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006,(i) any other proceedings for an offence which an Act provides may be taken before, or dealt with by, the Court.
21A Class 6—appeals from convictions relating to environmental offences
The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 6” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of appeals under section 31 or 42 of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001.
21B Class 7—other appeals relating to environmental offences
The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 7” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of appeals under section 32 or 43 of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001.
(1) The Court has jurisdiction (referred to in this Act as “Class 8” of its jurisdiction) to hear and dispose of proceedings arising under the Mining Act 1992 or the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991.(2) This section does not apply to proceedings for an offence under either of those Acts.
22 Determination of matter completely and finally
The Court shall, in every matter before the Court, grant either absolutely or on such terms and conditions as the Court thinks just, all remedies to which any of the parties appears to be entitled in respect of a legal or equitable claim properly brought forward by that party in the matter, so that, as far as possible, all matters in controversy between the parties may be completely and finally determined and all multiplicity of proceedings concerning any of those matters may be avoided.
The Court has power, in relation to matters in which it has jurisdiction, to make orders of such kinds, including interlocutory orders, as the Court thinks appropriate.