Rainbow on behalf of the Kurtijar People v State of Queensland

The case of Rainbow on behalf of the Kurtijar People v State of Queensland involved the Kurtijar People bringing an application for leave to file an expert addendum report. The Kurtijar People sought to qualify materially what the expert agreed in a joint expert report. The State of Queensland opposed the application. The application was heard in the Federal Court of Australia.

The legal issue the court had to decide was whether it was in the interests of justice to allow the Kurtijar People to file the addendum report. The Kurtijar People argued that the addendum report was necessary to clarify the experts' agreement. The State of Queensland argued that allowing the addendum report would revive a substantial issue requiring further evidence and would not be in the interests of justice. The court had to consider the principles of case management and the overarching purpose of the civil practice and procedure provisions.

The court found that it was not in the interests of justice to allow the Kurtijar People to file the addendum report. The joint expert report was prepared under the supervision of the Registrars of the Court in a joint conference, and the statement in the joint expert report was unambiguous. The Kurtijar People did not provide a satisfactory explanation as to why the expert came to make the addendum report three months after signing the joint expert report and one month before the trial. Allowing the addendum report would revive a substantial issue requiring further evidence, which would not be in the interests of justice. The principles of case management required the court to facilitate a just, quick and cheap resolution of the real issues in the proceedings.

The court dismissed the interlocutory application dated 31 July 2019, which sought leave to file the expert addendum report. The court's decision was based on the principles of case management and the overarching purpose of the civil practice and procedure provisions. The Kurtijar People were not allowed to file the addendum report, and the joint expert report remained the authoritative statement of the experts' agreement.