11. The heading to Part III and sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 of the principal Ordinance are hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor: —“REFERENCE TO THE APPEALS BOARD AND PROCEDURE THEREON |
19.—(1) For the purpose of hearing appeals in the manner hereinafter provided, there shall be one or more Appeals Boards to be presided over by a Commissioner of Appeals or a Deputy Commissioner of Appeals, who shall be appointed by the Minister.(2) No person shall be eligible to be appointed or to remain a Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner who —(a) | is a member of the Legislative Assembly; or | (b) | is an undischarged bankrupt; or | (c) | has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding six months and has not received a free pardon; or | (d) | is a person found or declared under any written law to be of unsound mind. |
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(3) The Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner shall hold office for a period of two years from the date of his appointment and shall be eligible for re-appointment. |
(4) The Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner appointed under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code (Cap. 119), and shall enjoy the same judicial immunity as is enjoyed by a District Judge. |
(5) The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of the Commissioner or the Deputy Commissioner. |
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Salaries, fees and allowances to Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner |
20. There shall be paid to the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of the Board such salaries, fees and allowances as the Minister may determine. |
21. The Minister may appoint a clerk or clerks to the Board and such other officers and servants of the Board as may be necessary. |
Power to make regulations |
22. The Minister may make regulations —(a) | prescribing the manner in which appeals shall be made to the Board; | (b) | prescribing the procedure to be adopted by the Board in hearing appeals and the records to be kept by the Board; | (c) | prescribing the places where and the times at which appeals shall be heard by the Board; | (d) | prescribing the fees to be paid in respect of any appeal under this Part of this Ordinance; | (e) | prescribing a scale of costs in respect of appeals to the Board; and | (f) | generally for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Part of this Ordinance and in particular providing for matters stated or required by this Part of this Ordinance. |
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23.—(1) Any person interested who is aggrieved by an award that has been made may appeal to the Board by —(a) | lodging with the clerk, within seven days of the date of the award of the Collector, a written notice of appeal in quadruplicate; and | (b) | depositing with the Accountant-General within seven days of the date of the award —(i) | where the award is five thousand dollars or more, five thousand dollars; and | (ii) | where the award is less than five thousand dollars, a sum equivalent to half the amount of the award; and |
| (c) | lodging with the clerk, within fourteen days of the date on which the notice of appeal was lodged, a petition of appeal in quadruplicate containing a statement of the grounds of appeal. |
(2) On receipt of a notice of appeal the clerk shall forthwith forward one copy thereof to the Collector. |
(3) The Board may, in its discretion and on such terms as it may see fit, permit any person to proceed with an appeal notwithstanding that the notice of appeal or petition of appeal was not lodged within the time limited therefor by this section, if it be shown to the satisfaction of the Board that such person was prevented from lodging such notice or petition in due time owing to absence from the State, sickness or other reasonable cause and that there has been no unreasonable delay on the part of such person. |
(4) Save with the consent of the Board and on such terms as the Board may determine, an appellant may not at the hearing of his appeal rely on any grounds of appeal other than the grounds stated in his petition of appeal. |
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Appeal deemed to be withdrawn |
24. An appeal shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of section 23 of this Ordinance, be deemed to have been withdrawn if —(a) | the deposit required under the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 23 of this Ordinance is not deposited, within the time specified, with the Accountant-General; | (b) | the petition of appeal is not lodged within the time prescribed by paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 23 of this Ordinance; or | (c) | any further security, required by an order, made under the provisions of subsection (3) of section 25G of this Ordinance, has not been deposited with the Accountant-General within the time specified by such order. |
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Hearing and disposal of appeals |
25.—(1) On receipt of a petition of appeal the clerk shall forthwith forward one copy thereof to the Collector and shall, as soon as may be thereafter, fix a time and place for the hearing of the appeal and shall give fourteen days’ notice thereof both to the appellant and to the Collector.(2) The appellant and the Collector shall attend, either in person or by an advocate and solicitor at such times and places as may be fixed for the hearing of the appeal:Provided that if it be proved to the satisfaction of the Board that, owing to absence from the State, sickness or other reasonable cause, any person is prevented from so attending, the Board may postpone the hearing of the appeal for such reasonable time as it thinks necessary. |
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(3) The onus of proving that the award is inadequate shall be on the appellant. |
(4) The Board shall have the following powers: —(a) | to summon to attend at the hearing of an appeal any person whom it may consider able to give evidence respecting the appeal, to examine such person as a witness either on oath or otherwise and to require such person to produce such books, papers or documents as the Board may think necessary for the purposes of the appeal; | (b) | to allow any person so attending any reasonable expenses necessarily incurred by him in so attending; such expenses shall form part of the cost of the appeal and, pending and subject to any order by the Board as to such costs, shall be paid by the appellant or the Collector, as the Board may direct; | (c) | all the powers of a District Court with regard to the enforcement of attendance of witnesses, hearing evidence on oath and punishment for contempt; | (d) | to admit or reject any evidence adduced, whether oral or documentary and whether admissible or inadmissible under the provisions of any written law for the time being in force relating to the admissibility of evidence. |
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(5) Every person examined as a witness by or before the Board, whether on oath or otherwise, shall be legally bound to state the truth and to produce such books, papers or documents as the Board may require. |
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25A.—(1) In any case where the appeal is against an award of —(a) | two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or more, the Board shall appoint two persons; or | (b) | less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the Board may appoint two persons, |
from the panel constituted under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section for the purpose of assisting the Board in the determination of an appeal. |
(2) For the purpose of enabling the Board to be constituted under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, a panel of assessors (hereinafter in this Ordinance referred to as “the panel”) shall be appointed by the Minister, whose names shall be published in the Gazette. |
(3) No person shall be eligible to be appointed or to remain a member of the panel who —(a) | is an undischarged bankrupt; | (b) | has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding six months and has not received a free pardon; or | (c) | is a person found or declared under any written law to be of unsound mind. |
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(4) A person appointed to the panel shall, unless his appointment is revoked by the Minister under the provisions of subsection (6) of this section, be a member of the panel, unless he resigns during the period of the appointment, for a period of two years or for such shorter period as the Minister may in any case determine, but shall be eligible for reappointment. |
(5) Where a person ceases to be a member of the panel the Minister shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable, take steps to fill the vacancy, but the existence of any vacancy in the panel shall not invalidate the constitution of the Board. |
(6) The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of a member of the panel. |
(7) There shall be paid to the members of the panel such salaries, fees and allowances as the Minister may determine. |
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25B.—(1) Where the Board is constituted otherwise than by the Commissioner alone, the Commissioner shall not be bound by the advice or opinion of the other members of the Board.(2) A decision of the Board shall be signed by the Commissioner and stall be delivered by him or by the clerk by the direction of the Commissioner. |
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Member of panel and proceedings deemed to be public servant and judicial proceedings respectively |
25C.—(1) Every person appointed to assist the Board, under the provisions of subsection (1) of section 25A of this Ordinance, when and so long as he is assisting the Board, shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code and shall enjoy the same judicial immunity as is enjoyed by a District Judge.(2) All proceedings in appeals to the Board under this Ordinance shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of the Penal Code. |
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25D.—(1) Save as provided in this section, the decision of the Board shall be final.(2) In any case in which the award, as determined by the Board (excluding the amount of any costs awarded) exceeds five thousand dollars, the appellant or the Collector may appeal to the court from the decision of the Board upon any question of law. |
(3) The procedure governing such appeals to the court and costs relating to such appeals shall be the same as for appeals to the court from decisions of District Courts in civil matters. |
(4) The court shall hear and determine any such appeal and may confirm, reduce, increase or annul the award determined by the Board and make such further or other order on such appeal, whether as to costs or otherwise, as to the court may seem fit. |
(5) There shall be no further right of appeal from decisions of the court under this section. |
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Cases stated for the court |
25E.—(1) The Board may at any time and in regard to any appeal, with or without proceedings to the determination of such appeal, state a case on a question of law for the opinion of the court.(2) A stated case shall —(a) | set forth —(i) | the facts and any finding of fact by the Board; | (ii) | the decision, if any, of the Board; and | (iii) | the question for the opinion of the court; and |
| (b) | be signed by the Commissioner. |
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(3) The clerk shall transmit the case, which has been set forth and signed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, to the court, and shall forward a copy thereof to the appellant and to the Collector. |
(4) The court may cause a stated case to be sent back for amendment and thereupon the case shall be amended accordingly. |
(5) In considering any stated case, the court shall afford opportunity for argument thereon to be put forward by or on behalf of the appellant and the Collector. |
(6) The court shall hear and determine any question of law arising on a stated case and may in accordance with its decision thereon confirm, reduce, increase or annul any award determined by the Board in the appeal, or may remit the case to the Board with the opinion of such court thereon. Where a case is so remitted by the court, the Board shall be bound by the opinion of the court and shall give effect thereto by its decision in the appeal or, as the case may be, by revising any previous decision made by it in the appeal to the extent, if any, to which such previous decision does not accord with the opinion of the court. |
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Award to be final and conclusive |
25F. Except as expressly provided in this Ordinance where —(a) | no valid notice of appeal has been lodged within the time limited by this Ordinance against an award; | (b) | an appeal has been deemed to have been withdrawn, under the provisions of section 24 of this Ordinance; and | (c) | an award has been determined on appeal, |
the award as made or agreed under this Ordinance or determined on appeal, as the case may be, shall be final and conclusive for the purposes of this Ordinance. |
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Costs on an appeal to the Board |
25G.—(1) The costs of an appeal shall be in the discretion of the Board and shall either be fixed by the Board or, on the order of the Board, taxed by the Registrar or the Deputy Registrar of the court in accordance with the scale prescribed by regulations made under section 22 of this Ordinance.(2) Where the Collector is awarded costs of an appeal, he shall be entitled to his full costs of the appeal, including a fee for any counsel appearing on his behalf in the appeal. |
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 23 of this Ordinance, the Board may, by order, on the application of the Collector made at any time after notice of appeal has been given, require the appellant to furnish further security, by depositing with the Accountant-General such further sum and within such time as may be specified for payment of the costs of the appeal. |
(4) The Board may, after hearing an appeal, confirm, reduce, increase or annul the award or make such order thereon as to it may seem fit. |
(5) Where, under subsection (4) of this section, the Board does not reduce or annul the award, the Board may, if in its opinion the appeal was vexatious or frivolous, order the appellant to pay, as costs of the Board and in addition to any costs awarded, to the Collector, a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars.”. |
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