The case provides a comprehensive summary of the principles governing applications under O 70 r 1 of the Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA) for declarations of incapacity. The level of mental capacity required to be a competent litigant in person is at least as great as, and should be greater than, that required to instruct a solicitor. Where a party's psychiatric delusions directly relate to the subject matter of the litigation, this is a particularly significant factor in assessing incapacity. The court may draw inferences of present incapacity from historical medical evidence combined with the absence of evidence of treatment and the party's own statements in court.
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