Ahrens v Queensland Railways - [1996] QCA 228

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL	[1996] QCA 228
SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND
Brisbane
Before	Fitzgerald P. Pincus J.A. McPherson J.A.

[Ahrens v. Queensland Railways]

[Butkowsky v. Queensland Railways]

Appeal No. 209 of 1995

BETWEEN:

CORRIE WARREN AHRENS

(Plaintiff) Appellant

AND:

QUEENSLAND RAILWAYS

(Defendant) Respondent

Appeal No. 210 of 1995

BETWEEN:

ANDREW CRAIG BUTKOWSKY

(Plaintiff) Appellant

AND:

QUEENSLAND RAILWAYS

(Defendant) Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT - THE COURT

Judgment delivered 12/07/1996

These appeals, which were heard together by consent, were brought from District Court
judgments dismissing the actions of the respective appellants, which were tried together before a jury.

Each appellant sued the respondent as “the occupier of certain land at the corner of Brisbane

Street and Roderick Street, West Ipswich”, which “had constructed upon it the [respondent’s] railway

lines”. Each plaint went on to allege that “the respondent had constructed a fence [t]o the southern side

of the ... railway lines”, and that “there was a strip of land of about 3 metres width angled downwards

towards the railway lines” “[b]etween the fence ... and the ... railway lines”, “after which there was a

vertical drop of some 12 metres approximately to the level of the railway lines.” According to each of

the appellants, on or about 29 July 1991, he “jumped over the fence ... whereupon he slid rapidly and

involuntarily down the strip of land ... and then fell onto the railway lines”, as a result of which he was

injured. The injuries were attributed to the respondent’s breach of duty in that it “failed to construct

upon the land a fence such as to prevent entry upon the land.”

It was not in dispute that the appellants were injured on the night in question by falling onto the

railway lines. A police officer, Wiedman, and an ambulance officer, Bain, gave evidence that the

appellants were seen “lying at the bottom of the cutting” (Wiedman) “beside the track down there”

(Bain). The distance from the point where the appellants were found and Burnett Street, where it

passed over the railway line after intersecting with Brisbane Street, was estimated by Wiedman to be

“40, 45 metres”, and by Bain to be “[p]robably about 45 to 50 metres”. Each of Wiedman and Bain

also gave some evidence relating to the place where the appellants were found to buildings to the east

of Burnett Street which had frontages to Brisbane Street and backed onto the cutting through which the

railway line passed. At trial, it was suggested to the jury that it could ascertain the point from which the appellants fell by the use of a ruler and a plan drawn to scale which showed the intersection of Brisbane

Street and Burnett Street, the passage of Burnett Street over the railway cutting, and the location of at

least some of the buildings referred to in Wiedman and Bain’s evidence. It is necessary to say no more

of this unsatisfactory course at this point, beyond…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [1996] QCA 228
Decision Date: 12/07/1996

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The appeal involves the appellants, Ahrens, who sued the respondent, Queensland Railways, following injuries sustained on land they claimed the respondent was the occupier of. The central issue was whether the respondent had neglected to install a fence on the land, which allegedly led to the injuries. The case was tried in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The court was tasked with determining whether specific questions posed to the jury during the trial were appropriate, as per section 259 of the Supreme Court Act 1995 (formerly section 15 of the Judicature Act 1876).

The appellants argued that the questions put to the jury were flawed and prejudicial, potentially influencing the outcome of the trial. They contended that the questions did not accurately reflect the legal standards required for determining negligence and were thus improper. The respondent, on the other hand, maintained that the questions were correctly framed and necessary for the jury to understand the legal issues involved in the case. The court had to consider the legal standards for jury questions and whether the questions posed aligned with those standards.

The court found that the questions posed to the jury were not improper. The questions were designed to address the core legal issues in the case and were structured in a way that allowed the jury to properly assess the facts and apply the relevant legal principles. The court noted that the appellants had acquiesced in the final form of the questions, indicating their acceptance of the questions’ accuracy and relevance. Therefore, the court concluded that the questions were appropriate and did not prejudice the trial's fairness. The appeal was dismissed, and the original decision in favour of the respondent was upheld.

The final orders of the court were that the appeal was dismissed, and the respondent was to recover its costs of the appeal. The decision of the trial court, which found in favour of the respondent, was affirmed.

Orders