Quine v Keerasawat

The case of Quine v Keerasawat involved a motor vehicle accident in which both the plaintiff and the defendant were jointly engaged in criminal conduct. The plaintiff sought damages for injuries sustained during the incident. The court was tasked with determining whether the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff under the Offenders (Legal Action) Act 2000, specifically section 5. The primary legal issue was whether the injury or loss suffered by the plaintiff needed to be causally connected to the criminal conduct or merely temporally connected.

The court held that the term 'criminal conduct' as defined in the Act is broad, encompassing preparatory actions, the actual commission of an offence, and post-offence concealment activities. The court ruled that section 5(1) of the Act does not necessitate a causal link between the injury or loss and the criminal conduct; rather, it requires only a temporal connection. The court interpreted 'in the course of' to include any injury or loss suffered by the injured person during the criminal conduct. This interpretation aligns with the broader construction of 'in the course of' as opposed to 'arose from', which demands a causal connection. The court found that if the legislature intended a causal link to be necessary, it would have used language consistent with section 5(2) of the Act.

The outcome of the case was that the defendant did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiff because the plaintiff's injuries occurred in the course of the criminal conduct. The court's reasoning hinged on the broad interpretation of 'criminal conduct' and the distinction between temporal and causal connections in the context of the Act. The plaintiff's claim for damages was thus dismissed.