Impounding Act 1955

Remedies for stock trespassing - Damages for trespass and trespass rates

30: Jurisdiction of District Court

You could also call this:

"What the District Court can decide about impounded animals"

If you want to make an application under section 29, you must do it within 2 months of getting a written notice from the local authority. You make this application to the District Court, and you have to follow the court's rules and pay the fees they charge. The court will look at your application and make a decision.

If the court decides the stock was not trespassing, or the impounding was against the law, or the trespass rates are too high, it can order the defendant to pay damages to the stock owner. The court can also order the local authority to pay back the trespass rates it kept.

The court can hear your application even if there are questions about who owns the property or who has the right to it.

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This page was last updated on 19 July 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM294180.

Topics:

Environment and resources > Farming and fishing

29: If impounding illegal or excessive trespass rates claimed, owner may pay under protest, or

"Paying trespass fees when you think they're unfair"

31: Special remedies for trespass by pigs, goats, or poultry, or

"What to do if pigs, goats, or poultry trespass on your land"

Part 5Remedies for stock trespassing
Damages for trespass and trespass rates

30Jurisdiction of District Court

Every application under section 29 shall be made within 2 months after the giving of the notice in writing to the local authority, and shall be made by way of originating application to the District Court in accordance with the rules of that court, and the fees prescribed by those rules in respect of originating applications shall be payable.
If the court finds that the stock was not trespassing, or that the impounding was illegal under this Act, or that the trespass rates demanded are in excess of the amount payable under this Act, it may make an order against the defendant for the amount of damages sustained by the owner of the stock in consequence of the illegal impounding or excessive demand, and for the amount of all other authorized fees and charges paid by the owner to the local authority; and that order shall also be an authority to the local authority to pay the trespass rates retained by it in accordance with the order.
The court may hear and determine the application notwithstanding any question of title to the property or suggestion of right that may be involved therein.

Compare

1908 No 79 s 10

Notes

Section 30 heading: amended, on 1 April 1980, pursuant to section 18(2) of the District Courts Amendment Act 1979 (1979 No 125).
Section 30(1): amended, on 1 March 2017, by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).