Westfield Shopping Centre Management Company Pty Ltd v Rock Build Developments Pty Ltd (No 2) [2013] NSWDC 306

Westfield Shopping Centre Management Company Pty Ltd v Rock Build Developments Pty Ltd (No 2) [2013] NSWDC 306

The email was sent within days of the water damage incident and, read as a whole, was an apology. The parts describing procedures to prevent or minimise future damage were a natural part of that apology and should not be severed for admission. Accordingly, the whole email was inadmissible in the proceedings as evidence of the defendant's fault or liability.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
18 October 2013
Procedural Posture
Application for Summary Judgment / Interlocutory Evidentiary Ruling on Admissibility
Outcome
Evidence inadmissible.
Legal Topics
['admissibility of Apology' 'civil Liability Act 2002 (nsw) Part 10' 'summary Judgment Evidence']
['evidence' 'civil Liability'] ['admissibility of Apology' 'civil Liability Act 2002 (nsw) Part 10' 'summary Judgment Evidence']

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Procedural Posture

Application for Summary Judgment / Interlocutory Evidentiary Ruling on Admissibility

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether an email from the defendant to the plaintiff was an apology within Part 10 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) and therefore inadmissible as evidence of fault or liability.' 'Whether a passage in the email referring to procedures to prevent or minimise further damage could be severed and admitted as an undertaking about future conduct.']

Ratio Decidendi

The email was sent within days of the water damage incident and, read as a whole, was an apology. The parts describing procedures to prevent or minimise future damage were a natural part of that apology and should not be severed for admission. Accordingly, the whole email was inadmissible in the proceedings as evidence of the defendant's fault or liability.

Court Disposition

Evidence inadmissible.

Orders

  • ['The email from the operations manager of the defendant to the plaintiff dated 4 September 2012, annexure B to the affidavit of Rachele Godridge of 15 August 2013, is an apology and is not admissible in these proceedings as evidence of the fault or liability of the defendant.']