Caruana v Darouti

In *Caruana v Darouti*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal from a judgment in favour of the respondent, who had slipped and fallen on the appellant's driveway. The dispute concerned whether the appellant was negligent in resealing the driveway, leading to the respondent's injury.

The Court was required to determine whether the appellant had breached their duty of care to the respondent. Specifically, the issues included whether the slip was reasonably foreseeable given the absence of prior accidents, whether the accident was caused by a positive act of the appellant, and whether reasonable care extended to the erection of a handrail. The Court also considered whether the trial judge had failed to properly regard relevant authorities in applying section 5B of the *Civil Liability Act 2005* (NSW) to the circumstances of the case, particularly in relation to positive acts.

The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge had correctly applied the principles of negligence under section 5B of the *Civil Liability Act 2005* (NSW). The resealing of the driveway constituted a positive act, and the risk of slipping was found to be reasonably foreseeable. The Court affirmed that the duty of care extended to taking reasonable precautions, which in this instance included the manner in which the driveway was resealed. The appeal was dismissed.