High Court of Australia
iN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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REASONS FOR JUDGHIENT
Judgment delivered at... OLIN EY ccc
RM73/30063
DASKOLAS v. CAMPBELL
ORDER
Appeal dismissed with costs.
DASKOLAS
CAMPBELL
JUDGMENT McTIERNAN A.C.J.
DASKOLAS
CAMPBELL
The action was brought in the. Supreme Court of New South Wales. The issues at thé trial were:
_i. Was a collision between two motor cars due to negligence on the part of the appellant, the driver of one of the motor cars? The respondent was the driver of the other motor car.
2. Was the respondent guilty of contributory negligence?
The trial judge found a verdict for the defendant (appellant). The plaintiff (respondent) appealed to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court. By a majority the Court set aside the verdict and granted a new trial of the action.
The defendant has asked this Court to set aside the order for a new trial and to restore the verdict given in his favour by the learned trial judge. The appeal is by leave of this Court. The application for leave to appeal was strenuously opposed on behalf of the respondent.
The learned trial judge, McClemens C.J. at C.L., in concluding the reasons why he found for the defendant said:
".,. I do not think that there is any doubt that Miss Campbell was driving in a careless fashion herself and that alone and not any breach of any traffic regulation, breach of duty or any careless driving by the defendant in the slightest way contributed to this accident.".
These words involve a positive finding for the defendant on the
issue of negligence.
It would appear from the judgments delivered in the Court of Appeal that the majority, Reynolds J.A. and Hutley J.A., did not form the opinion that there was proof of negligence on the part of the defendant and in fact they declined to enter a verdict for the plaintiff. They decided to set aside the verdict only to enable a new trial to be had. A new trial is not granted ina civil case unless it is necessary in the interests of justice.
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