Hickey v Public Advocate (Victoria)

In the case of Hickey v Public Advocate (Victoria), the dispute involved the interpretation of a legal requirement that an application for court approval of a settlement in a proceeding must be accompanied by an opinion from an independent lawyer. The applicant in the case, Hickey, was under a disability, and the Public Advocate was involved in the legal proceedings on behalf of Hickey. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The central legal issue the court had to decide was whether the opinion of the counsel acting for the applicant could suffice as the required independent lawyer's opinion. Specifically, the court had to determine if the opinion provided by the applicant's counsel, who was also the one making the application for approval of the settlement, met the statutory requirement of being from an independent lawyer.

The court found that the statutory requirement for an independent lawyer's opinion was mandatory and could not be circumvented by the opinion of the applicant's counsel. The court reasoned that the purpose of the requirement was to ensure that the settlement was in the best interests of the applicant, who was under a disability. By mandating an opinion from an independent lawyer, the legislature intended to provide an additional layer of scrutiny to protect the interests of the applicant. The court held that the opinion of the applicant's counsel did not meet the statutory requirement, and thus, the application for approval of the settlement was not valid.

As a result of the court's decision, the application for approval of the settlement was dismissed. The court ordered that any future application for approval of a settlement by an applicant under a disability must be accompanied by an opinion from an independent lawyer, as required by the relevant statute.