20.10.23
Matthew Blundell
We earlier wrote about the exciting latter half of the year to come. Earlier today, the High Court granted the Appellant, Bishop Paul Bernard Bird, special leave to appeal the decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria Court of Appeal handed down on 17 March 2023.
Bird v DP [2023] VSCA 66 was an appeal and cross-appeal of the decision of J Forrest J awarding the Plaintiff damages in the sum of $230,000 for psychological injuries which he alleged he sustained as a result of assaults committed by a Catholic priest, Father Bryan Coffey (‘Coffey’) at the home of his parents in Port Fairy in 1971.
On the special leave application, the Court acknowledged inter alia that an issue in the notice of contention will involve re-opening the question of whether vicarious liability will extend to criminal conduct in the oft-cited and -challenged judgment in State of New South Wales v Lepore (2003) 212 CLR 511; a proposition that, at least in an abuse context, was foreshadowed in the joint judgment of Edelman and Steward JJ most recently.
We may even be able to expect an answer to the question of whether the doctrine of a non-delegable duty of care remains more appropriate.
More to come.
