Leith v Gould - [1986] 1 NZLR 760

Contract — Sale of farm land — Validation of illegal contract — Dispute between lessor and lessee as to whether, in the contract signed by the lessor, there was a right to purchase at the termination of the lease — Lessor also signed an application for the Land Valuation Tribunal's consent to a transaction described as a "lease with compulsory purchase" — Signed application returned to office of lessee's solicitor where a solicitor purported to witness lessor's signature — Neither lessor nor lessee in fact made a statutory declaration although forms of declaration were signed to which a solicitor's signature had been added — Whether contract contained a right of purchase — Whether requirement for a statutory declaration from the parties was mandatory — Whether Tribunal's consent was void — Whether contract should be validated under Illegal Contracts Act — Land Valuation Tribunals Rules 1977, r 33 — Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952, s 25(4) — Illegal Contracts Act 1970, s 7.