The applicant, Luke Pitakoe, applied for leave of the Court so that he could proceed to the next step of asking the Court to grant orders for Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari, Declaration and Injunction in his favour and for those whom he represented as their spokesman. He was the spokesman of his Tribe and represented the owners of several lands.

Eagon Resources Development Company Ltd. (the company) possessed a timber license granted in 1987, valid for 20 years, for the land represented by the applicant. In 1997, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Forests, Environment and Conservation issued a memorandum advising any new licenses to be suspended and no licenses be issued awaiting the Government’s new forestry policy. The company still applied for consent to negotiate about further timber rights.

The applicant was of the opinion that the applications were in contravention of the moratorium instigated by the memorandum and that the Ministry had acted in bad faith. He wanted both to stop the processes, hearings planned and any further logging.

The Court concluded that the moratorium was not legally binding and that it could not override the law. Neither was the new government policy considered as law. The application for leave was therefore refused.