Commonwealth of Australia v Elliott (No 2)

The Commonwealth of Australia appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a judgment entered in favour of the plaintiff, Mr Elliott, in a proceeding concerning the recalculation of damages. The dispute arose from an adjustment to the discount applied for contingencies in the original assessment of damages.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the original judgment for the plaintiff should be substituted with a revised figure, reflecting a change in the assessment of the discount for contingencies. This involved determining the appropriate amount of damages to be awarded to the plaintiff.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Giles, Hodgson and Tobias JJA, determined that a recalculation of damages was necessary due to an increase in the discount for contingencies. The Court ordered that the original judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant in the sum of $1,448,271.67 be set aside and replaced with a substituted judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant in the sum of $1,031,685.80. This substituted judgment was to take effect from 26 November 2003.