Newcrest Mining Ltd v Thornton

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by Newcrest Mining Ltd against a decision of the Court of Appeal of Western Australia. The dispute concerned the interpretation of section 7(1)(b) of the *Law Reform (Contributory Negligence and Tortfeasors' Contribution) Act 1947* (WA), which limits the total amount recoverable in damages from concurrent tortfeasors to the amount awarded in the first judgment. The respondent had previously settled his claim against a concurrent tortfeasor, Simon Engineering, by way of a consent judgment for $250,000. He then sought to bring a further action against Newcrest Mining Ltd for the same injuries.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the consent judgment entered into with Simon Engineering constituted "damages awarded by the judgment first given" for the purposes of section 7(1)(b) of the Act. This required the Court to determine whether a consent judgment, which does not involve an admission of liability or a judicial determination of fault, could be considered an "award" of damages in the statutory sense.

The High Court, in dismissing the appeal, reasoned that the phrase "damages awarded by the judgment first given" in section 7(1)(b) refers to damages that have been judicially determined after a hearing, not to sums agreed upon by the parties in a settlement. The Court noted that a consent judgment, while having the force of an order, does not represent a finding of liability by the court. Therefore, the $250,000 paid pursuant to the consent judgment with Simon Engineering did not qualify as "damages awarded" under the Act, and the statutory limitation did not apply to the respondent's subsequent claim against Newcrest Mining Ltd. The appeal was dismissed with costs.