NEW SOUTH WALES INSURANCE MINISTERIAL CORPORATION v GLYNATSIS [1995] NSWCA 335

NEW SOUTH WALES INSURANCE MINISTERIAL CORPORATION v GLYNATSIS

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

GLEESON CJ, PRIESTLEY and COLE JJA 10 August 1995, 10 August 1995

[1995] NSWCA 335

PERSONAL INJURIES — ASSESSMENT OF CREDIBILITY OF WITNESSES PERSONAL INJURIES — assessment of credibility of witnesses — judge's observations of demeanour of party — plaintiff-respondent injured in car accident — trial judge awards damages on basis of brain damage — on appeal, defendant respondent challenges finding of brain damage on grounds that: (1) it was apparent at the trial that the plaintiff had made false statements to various doctors; (2) despite this the trial judge had accepted the plaintiff as genuine; (3) the trial judge breached the rule in Government Insurance Office v Bailey (1992) 27 NSWLR 304 by making observations of the demeanour of the plaintiff without affording counsel the opportunity of dealing with such observations (4) the trial judge had formed a medical opinion and conclusion which he was not himself competent to do. Held: the trial judge not in error appellant's first and second grounds fail because of misconception — the trial judge did not accept all the evidence given by the plaintiff as accurate — it was the body of evidence of the plaintiff's relatives and friends that the trial judge

primarily relied upon: trial judge was not in breach of the rule in Bailey - his observation about the demeanour of the plaintiff in court was not the basis of his conclusion: there was nothing particularly medical in the judge's description of what it was that led him to come to ie conclusion that he did.

ORDERS Orders dismissed with costs.

Priestley JA The respondent to this appeal was awarded damages of $1,026,681 by his Honour Judge Christie of the District Court on 17 February 1995. The damages were for injuries and the consequences of injuries suffered by the respondent in a car accident which happened on 17 February 1981 when he was seventeen.