South Sydney Council v Morris

South Sydney Council appealed a decision of a trial judge who found the Council liable for injuries sustained by the plaintiff when she tripped on defective footpath pavers. The plaintiff contended that the pavers, which were laid in a manner that caused her to fall against a grate, were negligently constructed and laid by the Council. The central dispute revolved around whether the Council had indeed constructed and laid the pavers, and whether they retained sufficient control over the land where the fall occurred.

The appellate court was required to determine two primary legal issues. Firstly, whether the trial judge was entitled, on the evidence presented, to conclude that the Council was responsible for laying the footpath pavers. Secondly, the court had to consider whether any intervening event had occurred that broke the chain of causation between the Council's alleged negligence and the plaintiff's injuries, thereby absolving the Council of liability. The Council had failed to adduce evidence regarding who laid the pavers or whether any third party had interfered with them.

The Court of Appeal held that it was open to the trial judge to infer from the evidence that the Council had constructed and laid the pavers. Given the Council's failure to present evidence to the contrary, particularly concerning potential third-party interference or alternative explanations for the pavers' condition, the trial judge was entitled to find that the condition of the pavers at the time of the plaintiff's fall was attributable to the Council's actions. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed with costs.