September 05, 2012

Court unveils quake-case list

By David Clarkson

The High Court?s Earthquake List is still to see its first case where home-owners are taking on their insurers who will only pay out for the nominal value of repairs on a property that has been red-zoned though it is relatively undamaged.

So far, people have been mainly settling for the Crown offer, but a legal seminar in Christchurch today was told that the courts might see its first cases of that type as claims for higher value hill suburb properties were dealt with.

Justice Forrie Miller, who is the executive judge running the Earthquake List in Christchurch, said none of the cases seen so far had raised that issue.

?That should be susceptible to a single decision from the court,? he told the lawyer who raised the question. ?If the proper case was brought, the court would do what it can to get such a case on.?

He said the court was not wanting to encourage litigation, ?but if it is necessary we will do everything we can to get cases to trial economically and as quickly as we can?.

He is expecting plenty of business for the Earthquake List court that was begun quietly, in May, as a test.

The High Court has now gone public with the system, with Justice Miller and Justice John Fogarty speaking at a seminar organised by the Canterbury Westland branch of the New Zealand Law Society.

Twenty-four cases have gone onto the list so far, and four have been tried and three decisions issued.

They include declaratory judgments and judicial reviews. The list will include the dispute over the deconstruction of Christchurch Cathedral, to be heard by Justice Lester Chisholm in a few weeks.

Justice Miller said the list was now seeing cases ? three had been filed this week ? where house-owners were saying that they had full replacement insurance, and having settled their claim with EQC they were making claims against their insurers for the remainder.