Cases - Davey (Valuation Officer) v O'Kelly

Record details

Name

Davey (Valuation Officer) v O'Kelly

Date

[1999]

Citation

RA 21

Keywords

Valuation - rating disputes - Lands Tribunal - local valuation tribunal - jurisdiction - general rule on jurisdiction - jurisdiction limited to the issues raised by the proposal giving rise to the appeal - how would the proposal be reasonably understood by those on whom it was served, disregarding any extrinsic material?

Summary

The rule that the jurisdiction of a local valuation tribunal and the Lands Tribunal is limited to the issues raised by the proposal giving rise to the appeal was emphasised in this case. It was held that the proposal must be construed by reference solely to the wording of that document, and that the Lands Tribunal could not look outside the proposal, and could not have regard to extrinsic material (i.e, any special knowledge or understanding of the valuation officer as to the position, the covering letter and the earlier proposal). There were no special circumstances that took the present case outside the general rule. The test was: how would the proposal be reasonably understood by those on whom it was served, disregarding any extrinsic material?