State of South Australia v Nguyen

The applicant, the State of South Australia, sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia. The respondents were Ma.nh Thuong Nguyen and Kim Bang Tran. The dispute concerned the interpretation of section 7(9)(b) of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act, specifically whether an attack by the victim on the defendant was a relevant circumstance for reducing or disqualifying compensation.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the majority of the Full Court of South Australia erred in holding that the victim's attack on the defendant was not a relevant circumstance under section 7(9)(b) of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act, or if it was relevant, that it was insignificant. The applicant contended that the majority's interpretation unduly restricted the scope of section 7(9)(b) by reading it *ejusdem generis* with the preceding subparagraph (a), thereby limiting its application to circumstances analogous to those in subparagraph (a).

The applicant's argument, as presented to the High Court, was that section 7(9)(b) should not be interpreted narrowly. They submitted that there was no textual basis within the Act to restrict the circumstances considered relevant under subparagraph (b) to those similar to subparagraph (a). The applicant argued that the majority's approach, which involved reading subparagraph (b) in light of the preceding language, was an incorrect construction of the statutory provision. The applicant clarified that while public policy considerations might arise, their argument was solely focused on the interpretation of "relevant circumstances" under section 7(9)(b) and not on public policy as a separate, independent ground for reduction or disqualification.