Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 14:13:01 -0600

From: Lewis Klar

Subject: Stop press : no liability for not stopping patricide

Geoff:

Have not read the case ... but

Is it still the case in New Zealand that the Accident Compensation Scheme would bar an action being brought against the murderer by relatives of the deceased, since murder is a "personal injury caused by accident", or is this not so?

And if it is so, would New Zealanders not find it strange that while a murderer could not be sued in tort, the murderer could and would sue in tort someone who did not prevent him from murdering the victim (even if the action ultimately failed)?

Lewis Klar

>>> Geoff McLay 7/18/2006 1:00 PM >>>

List members may be interested in the decision yesterday of the NZ High Court to strike out a claim by a mentally ill man that the relevant health authorities had failed to prevent him murdering his father.

While the judgment won't come as a surprise, the fact that it is 62 pages might. The judgment is perhaps a example of the New Zealand approach to negligence being a little "open textured".

Perhaps the real story is the fact that it took 62 pages. There is some questionable reliance on the public-private distinctions and on the fact that the patient can not make a complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner.

The case can be found here.

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