Local Authority Reorganisation (Property Transfers) Act 1990

Reprint
as at 4 July 1990

Coat of Arms of New Zealand

Local Authority Reorganisation (Property Transfers) Act 1990

Public Act1990 No 54
Date of assent3 July 1990
Commencement3 July 1990
Note

Changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in this reprint.

A general outline of these changes is set out in the notes at the end of this reprint, together with other explanatory material about this reprint.

This Act is administered by the Department of Internal Affairs.

An Act to provide for the modification or cancellation of certain arrangements arrived at or entered into in the light of the reorganisation or proposed reorganisation of certain local authorities

1 Short Title

  • This Act may be cited as the Local Authority Reorganisation (Property Transfers) Act 1990.

2 Interpretation

  • (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

    holder, in relation to any liable property, means the person who or which holds the property

    liable property, in relation to a liable transaction, means property—

    • (a) transferred in the transaction (whether or not it has again been transferred); or

    • (b) bought with, or acquired in full or part exchange for, property that is liable property in relation to the transaction

    liable transaction means a transfer of property made or agreed to be made by a local authority (being a local authority that has been dissolved or affected by an order under section 36 of the Local Government Act 1974) at any time during the period commencing on 14 November 1988 and ending with 31 October 1989

    property includes—

    • (a) a lease, licence, or permit; and

    • (b) a right to obtain a lease, licence, or permit; and

    • (c) an exemption from a requirement to have or obtain any lease, licence, or permit; and

    • (d) a right to obtain an exemption from a requirement to have or obtain any lease, licence, or permit

    recipient, in relation to a liable transaction, means the person to whom or which the transfer concerned was made

    transfer, includes grant, conveyance, gift, and lease; and to transfer has a corresponding meaning

    transferor, in relation to a liable transaction, means the local authority that made or agreed to make the transfer concerned.

    (2) In this Act, terms defined in the Local Government Act 1974 have the meanings there defined.

3 Act binds the Crown

  • This Act binds the Crown.

4 Commission may investigate transactions

  • (1) The Commission may, of its own motion or at the request of—

    • (a) the Minister; or

    • (b) a local authority that the Commission thinks would have acquired the property concerned if the transaction had not proceeded,—

    investigate any liable transaction.

    (2) The Commission may refuse to investigate a liable transaction; and may at any time discontinue any investigation it has begun.

    (3) As soon as is practicable after refusing to investigate, or discontinuing an investigation of, a liable transaction whose investigation has been requested under subsection (1), the Commission shall give the Minister or (as the case requires) the local authority requesting the investigation written notice of its reasons for doing so.

    (4) Subject to section 5, the Commission may, in investigating a liable transaction under this Act, have regard to any information already in its possession arising out of an investigation of or inquiry into the transaction that the Commission undertook before the commencement of this Act.

5 Commission to give opportunity to consult

  • (1) When investigating a liable transaction, the Commission shall ensure that—

    • (a) the transferor (if it is still in existence); and

    • (b) any person who was a member of the transferor at any time during the period commencing on 14 November 1988 and ending with 31 October 1989; and

    • (c) any local authority that the Commission thinks is or may be affected by the transaction or any proposed rectification of the transaction; and

    • (d) the recipients; and

    • (e) any other holders of any of the liable property,—

    have a reasonable opportunity to meet the Commission, and to make oral or written submissions to the Commission, about the transaction and the extent (if any) to which it should be rectified.

    (2) The failure of any person to—

    • (a) take an opportunity under subsection (1); or

    • (b) comply with any request of the Commission,—

    shall not affect the Commission's ability to act under this Act.

6 Matters to which Commission is to have regard

  • In investigating a liable transaction, the Commission shall have regard to—

    • (a) the purpose for which it purported to have been arrived at or entered into; and

    • (b) its effect, in relation to the policies of the Government and the Commission underlying local government reform; and

    • (c) the manner in which it was effected; and

    • (d) the effect of the transfer on the allocation of the property concerned, pursuant to a final reorganisation scheme, to any local authority specified in the scheme; and

    • (e) the desirability of ensuring that a local authority inheriting liabilities and duties from another should also inherit property from the other; and

    • (f) the need to deal justly and equitably with persons who have acquired liable property for value; and

    • (g) the need to deal justly and equitably with persons who have acquired in good faith liable property in the form of money, and spent it without acquiring property in exchange; and

    • (h) any other matters the Commission thinks relevant.

7 Commission may recommend rectification

  • (1) After completing any investigation, the Commission shall decide whether or not to rectify the liable transaction concerned.

    (2) The Commission shall rectify a liable transaction by—

    • (a) giving the Minister—

      • (i) written specific determinations as to the disposition and administration of all liable property concerned; and

      • (ii) written reasons for those determinations; and

    • (b) if a local authority requested the Commission to investigate the transaction, giving a copy of the determinations and reasons to it; and

    • (c) if the transferor is still in existence, giving a copy of the determinations and reasons to it.

    (3) A determination may specify—

    • (a) leaving any property as it is:

    • (b) vesting any property in a local authority:

    • (c) vesting any property in any other person:

    • (d) continuing in effect (whether unchanged or with modifications) any arrangement,—

      • (i) whether a trust, a contract, or any other arrangement; and

      • (ii) whether or not there is any doubt or dispute as to the status of the recipient or any other holder of the property, the status of the property, or the validity of the transaction by which the arrangement was arrived at or entered into.

    (4) Subsection (3) does not limit the generality of subsection (2).

    (5) If the Commission decides not to rectify a liable transaction, it shall—

    • (a) give the Minister written reasons for the decision; and

    • (b) if a local authority requested the Commission to investigate the transaction, give a copy of the reasons to it; and

    • (c) if the transferor is still in existence, give a copy of the reasons to it.

8 Implementation of rectification

  • (1) Determinations under section 7(2) shall be given effect to by Order in Council.

    (2) Every Order in Council shall have effect according to its tenor.

    (3) No Order in Council is invalid on the ground that—

    • (a) it requires the holder of any property to transfer it to any other person; or

    • (b) it requires the holder of any property to hold it subject to any trusts specified in the order; or

    • (c) it frees any property of any trust to which it was or purported to be subject; or

    • (d) it requires any person to take any action that is in breach of any contract; or

    • (e) it continues in effect (whether unchanged or with modifications) any arrangement that was unlawfully arrived at or entered into; or

    • (f) it requires any public official to take or refrain from taking any action.

    (4) Subject to section 9, the fact that an Order in Council continues in effect (whether unchanged or with modifications) any arrangement does not, unless the order makes express provision to the contrary, limit or affect any civil or criminal liability arising before the commencement of this Act.

9 Protection of holders of property acting in good faith

  • (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person who has at any time been the holder of any liable property shall not be criminally or civilly liable for any action taken in respect of the property before there is made under section 8 an Order in Council affecting the property, if the action—

    • (a) was taken in good faith; and

    • (b) was not—

      • (i) an action taken, after 14 December 1989 and without the Minister's written consent, by a holder purporting to hold the property in trust; or

      • (ii) the commencement or continuation (otherwise than by way of adjournment or discontinuance) after 14 December 1989 of any proceedings for or for the purpose of determining the status of the recipient or any other holder of the property, the status of the property, or the validity of the transaction by which the property was transferred; or

      • (iii) a transfer of the property after 14 December 1989.

    (2) Nothing in subsection (1) protects or exempts any person from criminal or civil liability—

    • (a) for a negligent action taken in respect of any property; or

    • (b) arising out of a failure to comply with an Order in Council under section 8.

10 Commission may immediately recommend rectification of certain transactions

  • (1) The Commission may at any time rectify any transfer or purported transfer of property by the former Auckland Harbour Board during December 1988 to people holding or purporting to hold it as trustees; and, in relation to the rectification of any such transaction,—

    • (a) the investigations the Commission has already undertaken before the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to have been undertaken under section 4(1); and

    • (b) the Commission's decision to undertake those investigations is hereby declared to have been lawful, justified, and proper; and

    • (c) the manner in which the Commission undertook those investigations is hereby declared to have been lawful, justified, proper, and sufficient; and

    • (d) the consultations undertaken by the Commission in relation to those investigations are hereby declared to have been a sufficient compliance with section 5, and to have been lawful, justified, proper, and sufficient; and

    • (e) this Act shall have effect as if, in undertaking those investigations, the Commission had full and proper regard to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (h) of section 6, and did not have regard to any improper or irrelevant matter.

    (2) Nothing in subsection (1) limits or affects the generality of section 4(4).

Contents

  • 1General

  • 2Status of reprints

  • 3How reprints are prepared

  • 4Changes made under section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989

  • 5List of amendments incorporated in this reprint (most recent first)

Notes
1 General

  • This is a reprint of the Local Authority Reorganisation (Property Transfers) Act 1990. The reprint incorporates all the amendments to the Act as at 4 July 1990, as specified in the list of amendments at the end of these notes.

    Relevant provisions of any amending enactments that contain transitional, savings, or application provisions that cannot be compiled in the reprint are also included, after the principal enactment, in chronological order. For more information, see http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/reprints/ .

2 Status of reprints

  • Under section 16D of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, reprints are presumed to correctly state, as at the date of the reprint, the law enacted by the principal enactment and by the amendments to that enactment. This presumption applies even though editorial changes authorised by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 have been made in the reprint.

    This presumption may be rebutted by producing the official volumes of statutes or statutory regulations in which the principal enactment and its amendments are contained.

3 How reprints are prepared

  • A number of editorial conventions are followed in the preparation of reprints. For example, the enacting words are not included in Acts, and provisions that are repealed or revoked are omitted. For a detailed list of the editorial conventions, see http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/editorial-conventions/ or Part 8 of the Tables of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations and Deemed Regulations in Force.

4 Changes made under section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989

  • Section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 authorises the making of editorial changes in a reprint as set out in sections 17D and 17E of that Act so that, to the extent permitted, the format and style of the reprinted enactment is consistent with current legislative drafting practice. Changes that would alter the effect of the legislation are not permitted.

    A new format of legislation was introduced on 1 January 2000. Changes to legislative drafting style have also been made since 1997, and are ongoing. To the extent permitted by section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989, all legislation reprinted after 1 January 2000 is in the new format for legislation and reflects current drafting practice at the time of the reprint.

    In outline, the editorial changes made in reprints under the authority of section 17C of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989 are set out below, and they have been applied, where relevant, in the preparation of this reprint:

    • •omission of unnecessary referential words (such as “of this section” and “of this Act”)

    • •typeface and type size (Times Roman, generally in 11.5 point)

    • •layout of provisions, including:

      • •indentation

      • •position of section headings (eg, the number and heading now appear above the section)

    • •format of definitions (eg, the defined term now appears in bold type, without quotation marks)

    • •format of dates (eg, a date formerly expressed as “the 1st day of January 1999” is now expressed as “1 January 1999”)

    • •position of the date of assent (it now appears on the front page of each Act)

    • •punctuation (eg, colons are not used after definitions)

    • •Parts numbered with roman numerals are replaced with arabic numerals, and all cross-references are changed accordingly

    • •case and appearance of letters and words, including:

      • •format of headings (eg, headings where each word formerly appeared with an initial capital letter followed by small capital letters are amended so that the heading appears in bold, with only the first word (and any proper nouns) appearing with an initial capital letter)

      • •small capital letters in section and subsection references are now capital letters

    • •schedules are renumbered (eg, Schedule 1 replaces First Schedule), and all cross-references are changed accordingly

    • •running heads (the information that appears at the top of each page)

    • •format of two-column schedules of consequential amendments, and schedules of repeals (eg, they are rearranged into alphabetical order, rather than chronological).

5 List of amendments incorporated in this reprint (most recent first)