Bowcliff Pty Ltd v QBE Insurance (Aust) Ltd; John James Orcher v QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd

Bowcliff Pty Ltd and John James Orcher (the appellants) appealed a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales concerning claims for contribution between concurrent tortfeasors. The dispute arose from a motor vehicle accident where the appellants were found liable to the plaintiff. QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd (QBE) was the insurer for one of the parties involved in the accident and had been involved in cross-proceedings. A consent judgment had been entered in the cross-claim between the appellants and another party, but the appellants argued this did not preclude their claim for contribution against QBE.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the consent judgment entered in the cross-claim operated as *res judicata* to bar the appellants' subsequent claims for contribution against QBE, and whether the appellants' claim for contribution was barred by the *Civil Procedure Act 2005* (NSW) s 22, which deals with the effect of judgments in favour of or against one of several tortfeasors.

The Court of Appeal held that the consent judgment in the cross-claim did not create *res judicata* in favour of QBE. The court reasoned that QBE was not a party to the consent judgment, and the judgment itself was limited to the specific cross-claim between the parties who entered into it. Furthermore, the court found that s 22 of the *Civil Procedure Act 2005* (NSW) did not bar the appellants' claim for contribution against QBE. The court clarified that s 22 is concerned with the effect of a judgment on the liability of tortfeasors to the injured party, not with claims for contribution between tortfeasors themselves.

The appeal was allowed, and the matter was remitted to the Supreme Court for determination of the contribution claims.