Plaintiff A v Bird ; Plaintiff C v Bird [2015] NSWSC 570

Plaintiff A v Bird ; Plaintiff C v Bird [2015] NSWSC 570

The proceedings were transferred because the evidence established a real chance that the mother in the two-plaintiff proceeding would receive an award exceeding $750,000 and a real likelihood that the single plaintiff in the other proceeding would receive an award well in excess of that amount; it was also desirable for both proceedings to be heard together. Orders restricting disclosure of identity were appropriate because the litigation concerned alleged child sexual assaults, the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW) evinced an intention to protect the identity of child victims and related mothers where identification of the mother may identify the child, and the Court...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
21 April 2015
Procedural Posture
Applications to Transfer District Court Proceedings to the Supreme Court and for Suppression or Non Publication Orders / Procedural and Interlocutory Ruling
Outcome
Application to transfer the proceedings to the Supreme Court from the District Court allowed. Application seeking prohibition of identity of certain persons in the proceedings allowed.
Legal Topics
['transfer of Proceedings From District Court to Supreme Court' 'district Court Jurisdictional Limit' 'identity Suppression for Children and Related Plaintiffs' 'alleged Sexual Assaults at a Child Care Centre']
['civil Procedure' 'personal Injury' 'suppression and Non Publication Orders'] ['transfer of Proceedings From District Court to Supreme Court' 'district Court Jurisdictional Limit' 'identity Suppression for Children and Related Plaintiffs' 'alleged Sexual Assaults at a Child Care Centre']

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Procedural Posture

Applications to Transfer District Court Proceedings to the Supreme Court and for Suppression or Non Publication Orders / Procedural and Interlocutory Ruling

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the proceedings should be transferred from the District Court to the Supreme Court under s 140 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW).' 'Whether there was a real chance or real likelihood that awards of damages would exceed the District Court jurisdictional limit of $750,000.' 'Whether there was sufficient reason for all claims to be heard together in the Supreme Court.' 'Whether orders should be made prohibiting or restricting disclosure of the identity of the three plaintiffs and the child concerned in the second proceedings.' 'Whether s 15A of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW) was a source of power to make a suppression or non-publication order.']

Ratio Decidendi

The proceedings were transferred because the evidence established a real chance that the mother in the two-plaintiff proceeding would receive an award exceeding $750,000 and a real likelihood that the single plaintiff in the other proceeding would receive an award well in excess of that amount; it was also desirable for both proceedings to be heard together. Orders restricting disclosure of identity were appropriate because the litigation concerned alleged child sexual assaults, the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW) evinced an intention to protect the identity of child victims and related mothers where identification of the mother may identify the child, and the Court...

Court Disposition

Application to transfer the proceedings to the Supreme Court from the District Court allowed. Application seeking prohibition of identity of certain persons in the proceedings allowed.

Orders

  • ['Proceedings transferred to the Supreme Court from the District Court.' 'Disclosure of the identity of the three plaintiffs and the child concerned in the second proceedings prohibited or restricted.' 'Plaintiffs to bring in a form of order reflecting the reasons for orders under s 7 of the Court Suppression and...