Rodriguez & Sons Pty Ltd v Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority trading as Seqwater (No 13) [2018] NSWSC 565

Rodriguez & Sons Pty Ltd v Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority trading as Seqwater (No 13) [2018] NSWSC 565

Only portions of Revision 13 of the Manual and the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams Optimisation Study Report that record representations as to advice received by Seqwater from Bureau of Meteorology prior to January 2011 are admissible; tender of the balance of those documents and other listed documents is rejected because they are not relevant to facts in issue, are opinion evidence, and fail to satisfy exceptions to the hearsay or opinion rules.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
02 May 2018
Procedural Posture
Procedural and Other Rulings / Interlocutory Decision on Evidentiary Objections
Outcome
Partial admission of documents; tender of bulk of documentary evidence rejected
Legal Topics
['business Records Exception' 'opinion Evidence' 'relevance' 'tender of Documents' 'flood Operations Procedures']
['evidence'] ['business Records Exception' 'opinion Evidence' 'relevance' 'tender of Documents' 'flood Operations Procedures']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Procedural and Other Rulings / Interlocutory Decision on Evidentiary Objections

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether reports and manuals prepared years after the events are admissible as evidence under the business records exception or opinion evidence provisions' 'Whether representations in documents rationally affect probability of facts in issue' 'Whether documents are relevant to practices or policies as at January 2011']

Ratio Decidendi

Only portions of Revision 13 of the Manual and the Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams Optimisation Study Report that record representations as to advice received by Seqwater from Bureau of Meteorology prior to January 2011 are admissible; tender of the balance of those documents and other listed documents is rejected because they are not relevant to facts in issue, are opinion evidence, and fail to satisfy exceptions to the hearsay or opinion rules.

Court Disposition

Partial admission of documents; tender of bulk of documentary evidence rejected

Orders

  • ['Seqwater to prepare redacted versions of Revision 13 of the Manual (SEQ.004.041.1834) and the WSDOS Report (SEQ.004.041.3589) within 7 days, consistent with this judgment']