The Department of Corrective Services v Smith

The Department of Corrective Services (the appellant) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the appellant's liability for injuries sustained by Mr. Smith (the respondent), a prisoner, who alleged negligence on the part of the Department.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Department owed a duty of care to Mr. Smith in relation to the alleged negligent supervision and management of a prison workshop, and if so, whether that duty had been breached, causing Mr. Smith's injuries. The court also considered the extent to which the Department could rely on the defence of volens (voluntary assumption of risk) in the context of a prisoner's confinement.

The Court of Appeal affirmed that the Department owed a duty of care to prisoners to take reasonable steps to protect them from foreseeable harm. Applying principles of negligence, the court found that the evidence established a breach of this duty due to inadequate supervision and unsafe working conditions in the workshop. The court rejected the Department's submission that Mr. Smith had voluntarily assumed the risk of injury, holding that a prisoner's consent to participate in workshop activities under duress of confinement could not amount to a true assumption of risk.

The appeal was dismissed, and the Supreme Court's judgment in favour of Mr. Smith was upheld.