The Court granted retrospective leave under s 4 of the Felons (Civil Proceedings) Act 1981 (NSW) for a plaintiff in custody to commence and maintain personal injury proceedings against the State arising from alleged abuse at a youth justice centre. The Court confirmed the relatively low threshold under s 5, requiring only that the proceedings are not an abuse of process and that there is a prima facie ground, satisfied here by the solicitor's assessment of reasonable prospects, a consistent history of abuse given to a psychiatrist, and a plausible chain of causation to diagnosed psychiatric conditions.
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