(1) A claimant who
rejects an offer and wishes to refer their claim to the State Administrative
Tribunal under section 220 must, with or after the service of the notice
rejecting the offer, serve on the acquiring authority notice in an approved
form of the appointment of an assessor together with copies of the
assessor’s consent and declaration.
(2) A claimant who
wishes to refer their claim to the State Administrative Tribunal under
section 221 must serve on the acquiring authority notice in an approved form
of the appointment of an assessor together with copies of the assessor’s
consent and declaration.
(3) Within 30 days
after being served with a notice of the appointment of an assessor, the
acquiring authority must —
(a)
appoint an assessor and serve on the claimant a copy of the appointment in an
approved form; or
(b)
serve on the claimant an offer of compensation, or, if an offer has already
been made, an amendment to the offer increasing the amount of compensation
offered.
(4) If the acquiring
authority has not complied with subsection (3) within 30 days after being
served with the notice of the appointment of an assessor by the claimant, the
claimant may request the President of the State Administrative Tribunal, in
specifying who is to constitute the Tribunal for the purpose of determining
the claim, to choose a consenting person as if the person had been appointed
as an assessor by the acquiring authority and the President is to act
accordingly, and notify the authority and the claimant.
(5) When either
—
(a)
assessors have been appointed by or on behalf of both the claimant and the
acquiring authority; or
(b) an
agreement under section 228 has been executed,
the President of the
State Administrative Tribunal is to specify who is to constitute the Tribunal
for the purpose of determining the amount of compensation to be paid.
(5a) For the purposes
of subsection (5)(a), the claimant or the acquiring authority is to be
regarded as having appointed a person as an assessor if circumstances have
arisen in which the President of the State Administrative Tribunal may, in
specifying who is to constitute the Tribunal, choose any consenting person as
if the person had been appointed as an assessor by the claimant or the
acquiring authority, as the case requires.
(6) Upon receiving
notice of the appointment of an assessor by the acquiring authority or notice
that the President of the State Administrative Tribunal has chosen a person as
if the person had been appointed as an assessor by the acquiring authority,
the claimant must at once file a copy of the claim and of all notices and
other particulars in the State Administrative Tribunal.
(7) If the offer is
for part only of the interest in land taken, the title to the rest being
disputed, the assessment of the compensation, unless the claimant admits the
objections to the claimant’s title, is to be adjourned pending the
judgment of the Court under section 216.
[Section 224 amended: No. 55 of 2004 s. 553 and
569; No. 4 of 2023 s. 92.]