Summary and Background Part 3: Marine Planning Validity of documents under this part Section 63: Powers of the court on an application under section 62
218.This section sets out the powers of a court hearing a challenge to the validity of a marine policy document.
219.Subsection (2) enables a court to make an interim order, suspending the operation of all or part of a document until the legal proceedings are over.
220.Subsection (3) sets out the conditions which must be satisfied before the court may grant any of the remedies set out in subsection (4). The court must be satisfied either that the marine plan authority (or its delegate) acted outside or beyond the relevant powers in relation to the document, or that the applicant has been substantially prejudiced by a failure to meet a procedural requirement.
221.If the court is satisfied that one of the conditions in subsection (3) has been met, subsection (4) enables the court either to quash the document or remit it (in effect, send it back) to a person or body involved in its preparation, adoption or publication.
222.Subsections (5) and (6) then enable the court to give directions relating to whether the document should be treated as adopted or published and to procedural or other steps which should be taken to ensure that whatever was wrong with the document is put right, without necessarily having to start the whole preparation process again from the beginning.
223.Subsection (7) states that the court is able to quash or remit only part of a relevant document, or the whole document.
224.Subsection (8) refers back to the definitions used in section 62.