Reviewing a Civil Aviation Authority decision

Two classes of decisions will be reviewable.

·       Relevant categories of decisions taken by (or on behalf of) the Director that are appealable to the District Court (under section 453(3) of the Civil Aviation Act 2023), namely:

o   a decision to decline to register an aircraft

o   a decision concerning the grant, issue, revocation, or suspension of an ‘aviation document’ (such as a pilot’s licence, air operator’s certificate, airworthiness certificate or maintenance engineer’s licence)

o   a decision to impose conditions on an aviation document (the Director may impose conditions in the interests of safety and security)

o   a decision to issue an improvement notice (which sets out what a person needs to do to remedy or prevent the contravention of civil aviation legislation), but only when decided by the Director (or their delegate) rather than an inspector, and

o   a decision to amend a New Zealand air operator’s certificate with Australia New Zealand Aviation privileges or withdraw those privileges.

·       Decisions by the Director to grant, or not to grant, individual exemptions from civil aviation regulations or rules.

Decisions that are not subject to review include:

·       Any other decision made by (or on behalf of) the Director, including for example:

o   decisions on medical certification (these are covered by the medical convenor process, that has been in place for several years and continues under the new Act)

o   decisions governed by the Solicitor-General's prosecution guidelines or established Court processes (in the case of infringement offence notices)

o   decisions on pecuniary matters relating to invoicing and/or the payment of fees and charges

o   other regulatory decisions made under the Civil Aviation Rules not covered in the previous section

o   decisions by the Director to grant, or not to grant, class exemptions (applicable to all parties) from civil aviation regulations or rules.

·       Any decisions made by individual CAA personnel or authorised persons exercising powers deemed to them under the Act (i.e. not acting on behalf of the Director).

You must apply for an independent review within 20 working days after the date that the CAA notified you of the decision you are seeking review of.

You can apply by completing the online application form, which will be available here from 5 April 2025. 

An independent review costs:

• $1000 (excl GST) per application for an individual
• $1500 (excl GST) per application for an organisation.

There isn’t a set timeframe for how long a review will take. It will depend on availability of the reviewers and complexity of the review.  Some reviews involve complex issues and may require the Reviewer to consult other experts, which may take more time.

Independent reviewers

Independent reviewers are appointed by the Minister of Transport.  Their role is to review certain decisions and report their recommendations to the Director as soon as practicable.

They may require relevant parties to provide evidence and may draw on the advice and expertise of any suitably qualified persons to assist in reviewing a decision.

The Government will announce the appointment of reviewers in the coming weeks.

Ministry of Transport

The Ministry provides secretariat support for reviewers which includes:

• receiving and acknowledging applications
• seeking information, and communicating with the Director, applicants, and other persons on the reviewers’ behalf
• ensuring all documentation related to reviews is maintained and recorded appropriately

We also provide legal support to the secretariat and reviewers on queries relating to the review process. This may include advice on whether an application is in scope for a review, compliance with the Act, grounds for declining an application or any preliminary legal assessment that reviewers may seek.

Some personal information is requested as part of the application.  We use this information to administer your review and we keep the information in a secure system. Access to this system is strictly limited to Ministry of Transport employees who require access to progress your review, and to the Independent Reviewers.

We may also provide information to other people who are relevant to your review (for example, aviation professionals), but only if you authorise us in your application form.   More information about this is available on the application form, which will be published from 5 April 2025.

You don’t have to provide us with personal information, but if you choose not to then we may not have sufficient information to progress your application.

This privacy information is in addition to that outlined in the Ministry of Transport’s Privacy and Transparency Statement (Privacy and Transparency statement)

If you have any enquiries about how we treat your personal information during this process, please email us at [independentreview@transport.govt.nz.

Complete the online application form here.

Please ensure that you:

• include any supporting information, such as:
  • reasons for seeking the review
  • expert opinions and information demonstrating comparable situations
  • anything else considered necessary to support the application.

You will receive confirmation that the Ministry of Transport has received your application. 

The reviewer will then decide whether to accept your application.  Applications are dealt with in the order they are received. Your application may be declined if it:

·       doesn’t adequately identify the aspects of the decision that you want to have reviewed

·       is trivial, frivolous, or vexatious; or

·       is an abuse of process.

You will receive a notification on whether your application has been accepted or declined. Once your application has been accepted and you wish to proceed with the review, you will be charged a fee to process your application for review.

Once your application has been accepted, you will be invoiced the fee to process your application.

The reviewer asks the CAA:

·       to provide all information it holds relating to the decision the application seeks review of

·       for information on the reasons for the decision.

The CAA has 20 working days to provide this information.

The reviewer may choose to share some or all of this information with you and may ask for comment on the information.

The reviewer reviews all information and may contact you or the CAA to seek clarification. The reviewer decides how to conduct the review, which may include:

·       asking anyone they consider to be suitably qualified and experienced for advice and expertise to assist in assessing the decision under review

·       requiring you, the CAA, or anyone else to provide evidence on any matter relating to the decision under review

The reviewer:

·       must receive and consider all the relevant evidence provided

·       must have regard to the purposes of the Act and the Director’s duties under the Act when carrying out the review.

Please inform the reviewer as soon as possible if the review is no longer needed, and of any change in contact details.

Following the review, the reviewer must report their recommendations to you and the Director in writing, as soon as practicable.

The Director must, within 10 working days of receiving the reviewer’s report:

·       make a final decision on whether to accept any or all of the reviewer’s recommendations

·       notify you in writing of the final decision with an explanation of the reasons for the decision.

The Director’s final decision may involve either a new decision or confirmation of the existing decision.

A decision under review remains in force until the Director makes a final decision.