NSW Insurance Ministerial Corporation (formerly Government Insurance Office of New South Wales) v Rosniak

The applicant, NSW Insurance Ministerial Corporation, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal concerning the assessment of future losses and the cost of fund management in a personal injury claim brought by the respondent, Leah Sheree Rosniak. The dispute centred on how to resolve inconsistencies in the judgments of the Court of Appeal judges when there was no majority decision on certain issues.

The legal issues before the High Court included how to determine the outcome of an appeal when the judges of the Court of Appeal held differing opinions on the grounds of appeal, particularly where one judge granted leave to amend and ordered a new trial, another judge remained silent on the issue, and a third judge refused leave to proceed on that ground. The Court was also required to consider the assessment of damages for the cost of fund management, where there were also differing views among the judges.

The applicant argued that where there is no majority in the Court of Appeal on a particular issue, the appeal should be dismissed. This was contrasted with the outcome in the Court of Appeal, where despite only one judge favouring the respondent on the issue of future losses, an order for a new trial was made. The applicant contended that the Court of Appeal's approach to resolving the differing opinions of the judges was incorrect and that their own proposed method of resolution should have been applied.