Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 11:36:59 +1200

From: Geoff Mclay

Subject: Lord Millett - how can he dissent when he is not on the panel

Colleagues there is to be a corrected version of the Bottrill decision to be issued which will show Millett as part of the panel. There is some confusion over here (since we are of course 12 000 miles from our court of last resort it is hard to clarify).

While a number of you will be concerned about the implications for the common law it is worth spending a moment thinking what the decision means for effective tort reform. It means effectively that each tort case will now have its ACC route and its exemplary damages route, at least in the initial settlement phase. On the other hand the decision and the whole Bottrill scandal shows the rather strange persistence of tort law and perhaps the difficulty of providing a proper mechanism for dealing with these cases outside the traditional tort system.

Geoff

Geoff McLay
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Law
Victoria University of Wellington

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