In Tasmania, the defence of self-defence in civil battery proceedings follows the Zecevic test as modified for civil proceedings: the defendant bears the onus of establishing the defence, and the question is whether the defendant believed on reasonable grounds that it was necessary to act as they did in self-defence. Section 3B(1)(a) of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (Tas) requires proof of actual subjective intention to cause injury, but not intention to cause the specific injury suffered; 'injury' means something more than trivial hurt or harm. Section 6(1) of the CLA requires strict temporal contemporaneity between the incident causing injury and the plaintiff's engagement in criminal conduct. Contributory negligence is available as a partial defence to battery under the Wrongs Act 1954 (Tas) because the definition of 'wrongful act' extends to any act or omission giving rise to liability in tort. In assessing damages for future care, the touchstone of reasonableness permits awards for independent housing and enhanced attendant care where the evidence establishes substantial benefits to the plaintiff's functioning, even where the plaintiff was in shared supported accommodation and the costs are significantly higher.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 6 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 6 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.