Garzo v Liverpool / Campbelltown Christian School. [2012] NSWCA 151

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Garzo v Liverpool / Campbelltown Christian School. [2012] NSWCA 151 Hearing dates: 7 March 2012 Decision date: 25 May 2012 Before: Basten JA at 1; Meagher JA at 21; Tobias AJA at 30 Decision: Appeal dismissed with costs. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: TORTS- Negligence - Appellant slipped and fell on painted strip of pedestrian crossing within school grounds - Whether primary judge erred in concluding that the respondents were not negligent - Whether the respondents reasonably ought to have known that the crossing was unduly slippery on the date of the appellant's fall

TORTS - Negligence - Duty of care - Whether respondents breached their respective duties of care in failing to repaint the surface of the pedestrian crossing using a paint which was capable of producing slip resistant results when tested in wet conditions - Whether the legal duty requires precise conformity to a specific standard of slip resistance

TORTS- Negligence - ss 5B and 5C Civil Liability Act 2002 - Whether the respondents failed to take reasonable precautions - Whether the risk of harm to a person slipping on the wet surface of the crossing was foreseeable and not insignificant - Whether primary judge was too narrow in the description of the risk of harm that he adopted - Whether it can be established that professional testing should have been undertaken shortly before the accident and, if done, would have demonstrated that the condition of the crossing was such that a reasonable person should have taken steps to decrease its slipperiness