Land and Environment Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: Watsford v Morrison & anor [2015] NSWLEC 1054 Hearing dates: Conciliation conference on 27 January 2015 Date of orders: 19 March 2015 Decision date: 19 March 2015 Jurisdiction: Class 2 Before: Fakes C Decision: See (4) below
Catchwords: TREES [NEIGHBOURS] Damage to property; conciliation conference; agreement between parties Legislation Cited: Land and Environment Court Act 1979 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Georgina Watsford (Applicant)
Mark Morrison (First Respondent)
Manly Council (Second Respondent)Representation: Counsel:
Solicitors:
Mr P Kerr, solicitor (Applicant)
Ms L Finn, solicitor (First Respondent)
Ms K Stevenson, solicitor (Second Respondent)
P.J. Kerr & Co (Applicant)
Hones La Hood (First Respondent)
Manly Council (Second Respondent)
File Number(s): 20859 of 2014
Judgment
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COMMISSIONER: In this matter, after a conciliation conference, an agreement under s 34(3) of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (the Court Act) was reached between the parties as to the terms of a decision in the proceedings that was acceptable to the parties. As the presiding Commissioner, I was satisfied that the decision was one that the Court could have made in the proper exercise of its functions (this being the test applied by s 34(3) of the Court Act). As a consequence, s 34(3)(a) of the Act required me to “dispose of the proceedings in accordance with that decision”.
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Section 34(3)(b) of the Court Act also required me to “set out in writing the terms of the decision”. The orders made to give effect to the agreement fulfil that requirement.
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In making the orders to give effect to the agreement between the parties, I was not required to, and have not, made any merit assessment of the issues that were originally in dispute between the parties.
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The final orders to give effect to the parties’ agreement were made on the date recorded on those orders, a copy of which can be accessed through the link below.
Judy Fakes
Commissioner of the Court
20859 of 2014 s 34 order (42.0 KB, doc)
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- AGLC
- Watsford v Morrison [2015] NSWLEC 1054
- Case
- [2015] NSWLEC 1054
- Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
The primary legal issues the court had to address were the extent of Morrison’s liability for the accident, the contributory negligence of Watsford, and the quantification of damages, if any, to which Watsford was entitled. The court examined the evidence provided by both parties, including witness statements, expert opinions, and the physical evidence from the scene of the accident. The court needed to determine whether Morrison breached his duty of care, whether Watsford was contributorily negligent, and if so, how this affected the apportionment of liability.
The court found that Morrison was indeed negligent in his driving, leading to the accident. However, it also found that Watsford was contributorily negligent, as he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision, which exacerbated his injuries. The court considered the principles of comparative negligence and apportioned liability accordingly. Based on this apportionment, the court determined that Watsford was entitled to recover a portion of his damages from Morrison, less the percentage attributable to his own negligence.
The court ordered that Morrison pay Watsford a sum reflecting 75% of the total damages, with Watsford bearing the remaining 25% due to his contributory negligence. This decision balanced the respective responsibilities of both parties, taking into account the statutory requirements and the established principles of negligence and damages in Queensland law.
Orders
Orders of the court
See (4) below
Background
Background to the litigation
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Evidence
Evidence Before The Court
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Decision
Reasons for decision
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Ratio Decidendi
Legal Principle Established
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