Newman v Nugent

This matter came before the High Court of Australia on an application for special leave to appeal. The applicant, Newman, sought to appeal a decision concerning the assessment of damages for personal injury. The respondent, Nugent, was not represented at the hearing and submitted to the order of the Court.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether interest should be awarded on damages for past gratuitous services provided to a personal injury victim. This question involved a consideration of the nature of such awards in tort law, particularly in light of established principles and statutory provisions governing the award of interest on damages.

The applicant argued that interest should be awarded on damages for gratuitous services, submitting that these awards are not in the nature of special damages but rather an exception to the traditional basis of damage awards, reflecting a public policy consideration. The applicant contended that such awards, while a component of general damages, do not fall within the exclusionary categories for interest under the relevant Western Australian statute, which prohibits interest on general damages for pain and suffering or loss of enjoyment of amenities of life. The applicant further submitted that an award for gratuitous services is more akin to economic loss. The Court noted that the Western Australian statutory provision, section 32(2)(aa) of the Supreme Court Act 1935, permits interest awards unless they relate to specific categories of general damages. The applicant referred to the unreported decision of *Torrent v Lancaster*, where Mr Justice Kennedy had considered that general damages for the loss of capacity to look after oneself, which would encompass gratuitous services, would not fall within the statutory exclusion.