Both Sides Appealing the Judgment of 14 December 2023 - Hearing 11 April 2024

Both the plaintiffs and EQC are appealing certain parts of the judgment of the High Court of 14 December 2023 that approved the EQC Land class action.

While it was fantastic for the EQC Land class action to be certified by the High Court in the judgment of 14 December 2024, it excluded certain people from being part of the class action including those with increased flooding vulnerability (IFV) and those with assigned land claims. There was also an interim judgment that said the EQC approach of using indemnity value to settle land damage could not be challenged. EQC are challenging the judgment on the basis that it does not provide efficency to to the Court, that parts of the claim are out of time and that somehow the plaintiffs were not representative of their own claim.

There will be a hearing on 11 April 2024 to determine if the High Court will allow the appeals (or parts of the appeals) to be heard by the Court of Appeal.

The plaintiffs, Freer and McEvedy, have made submissions supporting their application for leave (here) and opposing the EQC application for leave (here). EQC have made submissions supporting their application for leave (here) and opposing the plaintiffs application for leave (here).

Grant Shand, counsel for the plaintiffs, approached EQC seeking a common sense outcome of jointly allowing all appeals to be heard together in the Court of Appeal. This would have saved both sides time and costs. EQC declined.

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