Briscoe-Hough v A.V.S Australian Venue Security Services Pty Ltd

[2005] NSWCA 51

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Courts and Judges
2. › Disqualification for bias
3. › Apprehended bias
4. › Prior incident involving counsel
5. › Whether judge's complaint about barrister's conduct to Bar Association gave rise to reasonable apprehension of bias in subsequent case involving same barrister
6. › Whether grounds for disqualification must be stated squarely in open court
1. Damages
2. › Personal injury
3. › Non-economic loss
4. › Assessment as percentage of most extreme case
5. › Whether assessment of 13.5% revealed appealable error
6. › Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), s 16(1)
1. Damages
2. › Personal injury
3. › Future economic loss
4. › Future earning capacity
5. › Whether modest buffer award precluded by s 13(1)
6. › Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), s 13(1)
1. Appeal
2. › Fresh evidence on appeal
3. › Special grounds for admission
4. › Whether documents relating to Bar Association complaint admissible on appeal
5. › Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 75A(7), (8)

Quick Take

A judge who has appropriately reprimanded a barrister for misconduct and reported the matter to the Bar Association is not thereby disqualified from hearing subsequent cases in which that barrister appears. Otherwise, a barrister could compel a judge's disqualification by behaving badly. Applications for disqualification should be stated squarely in open court with supporting material, not made cryptically by reference to matters known only to the judge and counsel. Section 13(1) of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) does not preclude a modest buffer award for future economic loss where medical evidence establishes real work limitations.