The NT Court of Appeal held that a determination of 'exceptional circumstances' under s 19(2) of the Local Court (Civil Procedure) Act 1989 (NT) is discretionary in nature and subject to the House v The King standard, not the correctness standard, because such a determination does not implicate fundamental norms of the legal system and admits of a range of legitimate answers. The Court confirmed that r 3.04(1) of the Supreme Court Rules, which excludes the Christmas period from time calculations, applies only to time fixed by the Rules themselves and does not extend statutory appeal periods fixed by other legislation such as s 19(1) of the Local Court (Civil Procedure) Act. Where a complicated process of fact-finding including credit assessments has miscarried, remittal to a differently constituted tribunal is ordinarily the only course properly open, and an appellate court is not required to separately invite submissions on the constitution of the tribunal on remittal where the issue was raised in the notice of appeal and written submissions.
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