Melenewycz v Whitfield [2015] NSWSC 1482

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Melenewycz v Whitfield [2015] NSWSC 1482 Hearing dates: 7-8 October 2015 Date of orders: 04 December 2015 Decision date: 04 December 2015 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Hamill J Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff. (2) Defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs on the issue of liability. (3) Parties to agree on damages or upon a timetable for the future conduct of the proceedings. (4) The matter is adjourned for mention on Friday 11 December 2015. Catchwords: TORTS – motor accident compensation – blameless accident – kangaroo collides with motor cycle in the outback – only in Australia – statutory interpretation – whether driver can claim under no fault scheme – whether injuries occasioned by a "blameless motor accident" – whether plaintiff's act or omission caused the accident – statutory modification to the concept of causation – where defendant not required to establish that plaintiff at fault – statutory definition of fault – whether riding a motor cycle constituted an act or omission – whether excessive speed an act that caused the accident – whether failure to observe kangaroo an omission that caused the accident Legislation Cited: Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW) Cases Cited: Axiak v Ingram [2012] NSWCA 311; 82 NSWLR 36 Chappel v Hart [1998] HCA 55; 195 CLR 232 Connaughton v Pacific Rail Engineering Pty Ltd [2015] NSWDC 89 Davis v Swift [2014] NSWCA 458 Gillett v R [2006] NSWCCA 370 Hossain v Mirdha [2015] NSWDC 108 Ingram v Axiak & Ors [2013] HCATrans 64 Jiminez v The Queen [1992] HCA 14; 173 CLR 572 Kelly v The Queen [2004] HCA 12; 218 CLR 216 Mamo v Surace [2014] NSWCA 58 Nettleton v Rondeau [2014] NSWSC 903 NSW Insurance Ministerial Corporation v Reeve (Court of Appeal (NSW), 24 September 1993, unrep) Project Blue Sky v Australian Broadcasting Authority [1998] HCA 28; 194 CLR 355 R v Hughes [2013] UKSC 56; 4 All ER 613 Texts Cited: Dennis Pears & Robert Geddes, Statutory Interpretation in Australia (8th ed, 2014, LexisNexis) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Anthony Melenewycz (Plaintiff) David Patrick Whitfield (First Defendant) AAI Limited t/a Suncorp Metway (Second Defendant) Representation: Counsel: R Sheldon SC & J Gumbert (Plaintiff) K P Rewell SC (First & Second Defendants)