NSW v Julianne Higgins by her tutor David Benedict O'Shea; Barnardos Australia v Julianne Higgins

[2005] NSWCA 244

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Limitation of Actions
2. › Disability
3. › Mental illness
4. › Suspension of limitation period
5. › Whether plaintiff substantially impeded in management of affairs by mental illness for continuous period of 28 days or upwards
6. › Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), ss 11(3)(b), 52(1)
1. Limitation of Actions
2. › Disability
3. › Extension of limitation period
4. › Whether s 52(1)(e) provides full three-year extension from date of last cessation of disability
5. › Limitation Act 1969 (NSW), s 52(1)(e)
1. Evidence
2. › Expert evidence
3. › Retrospective inference
4. › Whether psychiatrists entitled to draw inferences about earlier condition from later clinical examination and history
5. › Evidence Act 1995 (NSW)

Quick Take

Section 52(1)(e) of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) provides a plaintiff who has been under a disability due to mental illness with a full three-year extension from the date on which the disability last ceased, not merely the unexpired balance of the original limitation period. Psychiatrists may draw retrospective inferences about a plaintiff's earlier mental condition from later clinical examinations and documentary history, and such evidence is legally permissible to establish disability during the limitation period.