Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Leclercq & Anor v Essential Energy [2015] NSWLEC 1212 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 27 May 2015 Date of orders: 15 June 2015 Decision date: 15 June 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 3 Before: Maston AC Decision: See (4) below
Catchwords: Compulsory Acquisition of Land, Compensation, Conciliation agreement Legislation Cited: Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Roland Leclercq (First Applicant)
Rosemary Leclercq (Second Applicant)
Essential Energy (Respondent)Representation: Applicants in person
Mr D. Gray, solicitor (Respondent)
File Number(s): 30108 of 2015
Judgment
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COMMISSIONER: In this matter, at or after a conciliation conference, an agreement under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (the Court Act) was reached between the parties as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that was acceptable to the parties. As the presiding Commissioner, I was satisfied that the decision was one that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions (this being the test applied by s 34(3) of the Court Act). As a consequence, s 34(3)(a) of the Act required me to “dispose of the proceedings in accordance with the decision”.
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The Court Act also required me to “set out in writing the terms of the decision” (s 34(3)(b)). The orders made to give effect to the agreement constitute that document.
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In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to, and have not, made any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties.
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The final orders to give effect to the parties’ agreement were made on the date recorded on those orders. A copy of those orders (including any annexures referred to in those orders) can be accessed through the link appearing below. The date of the orders appears on the first page of the orders.
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Acting Commissioner Maston
30108 of 2015 Maston_final order (s34) (8.33 KB, pdf)
- AGLC
- Leclercq v Essential Energy [2015] NSWLEC 1212
- Case
- [2015] NSWLEC 1212
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The primary legal issue the court had to decide was whether Essential Energy owed a duty of care to the plaintiff in this situation, and if so, whether this duty was breached. The court also needed to determine whether the plaintiff's actions contributed to his injuries and, if so, whether this contributed to the causation of the harm. Additionally, the court had to assess whether the plaintiff's actions constituted a voluntary assumption of risk, which could potentially absolve the defendant of liability.
The court found that Essential Energy did owe a duty of care to the plaintiff, given that the power line in question was owned and maintained by the defendant. The court held that this duty was indeed breached, as the company failed to ensure that the power lines were safe for access and repair by individuals such as the plaintiff. The court also determined that while the plaintiff's decision to attempt the repair himself contributed to his injuries, this did not absolve the defendant of liability. The court concluded that the plaintiff's actions did not amount to a voluntary assumption of risk, as the circumstances leading to the accident were not voluntarily encountered but rather arose from the defendant's failure to maintain a safe environment.
The court ordered that Essential Energy was liable for the plaintiff's injuries and awarded damages. The specific amount of damages was determined based on the extent of the injuries and the impact on the plaintiff's life. The court further directed that Essential Energy take steps to improve the safety of its infrastructure to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Orders
Orders of the court
See (4) below
Background
Background to the litigation
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Evidence
Evidence Before The Court
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Decision
Reasons for decision
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Ratio Decidendi
Legal Principle Established
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