Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales
Established	14 April 1980
Jurisdiction	New South Wales, Australia
Location	Sydney
Authorized by	Parliament of New South Wales via the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (NSW)
Decisions are appealed to	New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal New South Wales Court of Appeal
Decisions are heard for appeals from	Local Court of New South Wales (with respect to an environmental offence under the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW))
Website	www.lec.justice.nsw.gov.au
Chief Judge
Currently	Brian Preston
Since	14 November 2005

The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales is a court within the Australian court hierarchy established pursuant to the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (NSW) to hear environmental, development, building and planning disputes. The Court’s jurisdiction, confined to the state of New South Wales, Australia, includes merits review, judicial review, civil enforcement, criminal prosecution, criminal appeals and civil claims about planning, environmental, land, mining and other legislation.^[1]

History

The Court was established on 14 April 1980 as the world's first environmental court that was also a superior court of record.^[1]

Structure and jurisdiction

The Court is a superior court of record. It consists of a Chief Judge, severals Judges, and Commissioners. The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal and the New South Wales Court of Appeal, both divisions of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, may hear appeals from the Court, depending on the nature of case. Appellants on constitutional issues may seek special leave for the matter to be heard before the High Court of Australia in certain circumstances.

The Court has appellate jurisdiction over the Local Court of New South Wales with respect to an environmental offence under the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW).^[1]

Current composition

Judges have the same rank, title, status and precedence as the Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Judges preside over all Aboriginal land claims matters, most land tenure and compensation matters, and can hear matters in all other Classes of the Court’s jurisdiction.

The Judges, in order of seniority, are as follows:

Name	Title	Term began	Term ended	Time in office	Notes
Justice Brian Preston	Chief Judge	14 November 2005	present	11 years, 23 days	[2]
Justice Terry Sheahan AO	Judges	9 April 1997	present	19 years, 242 days
Justice Nicola Pain		18 March 2002	present	14 years, 264 days
Justice Rachel Pepper		1 May 2009	present	7 years, 220 days
Justice Tim Moore		4 January 2016	present	338 days
Justice John Robson		5 July 2016	present	155 days

Past Judicial officers and decision makers

Past Chief Judges

Name	Title	Term ended	Time in office	Notes
Justice Jim McClelland	14 April 1980	2 June 1985	5 years, 49 days	[2]
Justice Jerrold Cripps	3 June 1985	1 April 1992	6 years, 303 days
Justice Mahla Pearlman AO	6 April 1992	3 July 2003	11 years, 88 days
Justice Peter McClellan	25 August 2003	1 September 2005	2 years, 7 days

Former Judges

• The Honourable Justice Malcolm Craig
• The Honourable Justice Peter Biscoe
• The Honourable Justice Paul Stein
• The Honourable Justice Neal Bignold
• The Honourable Justice Angus Talbot - 1992 to 2007
• The Honourable Justice David Lloyd
• The Honourable Justice Jayne Jagot

See also

• List of New South Wales courts and tribunals

References

1. "About us". Land and Environment Court. Government of New South Wales. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
2. "Judicial officers and decision makers". Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.

External links

• "Land & Environment Court". Justice NSW. Retrieved 11 August 2016.