A statement of claim filed by an unrepresented litigant should be read as a whole and not treated as limited by the legal characterisation in its opening paragraph. Where factual allegations of deliberate police misconduct are pleaded, the court must consider whether those facts might give rise to an intentional tort claim, even if the pleading characterises the claim as negligence or breach of statutory duty. Defences of witness immunity and limitation under ss 50C and 50D of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) cannot support summary dismissal where the necessary factual findings have not been made.
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