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New civil litigation laws welcome, says ALA
Australian Lawyers Alliance has welcomed the new civil litigation laws in NSW, which intend to remove barriers that have previously prevented survivors of child sexual abuse from receiving justice.
Jerome Doraisamy
ALA spokesperson Dr Andrew Morrison RFC SC, who represented John Ellis in his battle against Cardinal George Pell and the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Sydney a decade ago, said: “After many years of trying to remedy the problems created by the Ellis defence, I am delighted to see the NSW taking positive action.”
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“The new laws are all intended to overcome the Ellis defence [which protects Church assets from claims made by victims of child sexual abuse] and they will ensure that organisations are held accountable for what happens on their watch. Institutions will be liable for abuse and will be held to account.”
ALA hopes, he continued, that the new legislative provisions, which remove barriers to accessing justice, will ultimately lead to better protection for children in the future.
“Nothing can take away the devastating impact of abuse but these new laws will make it easier for survivors to be compensated,” Dr Morrison continued.
“Some of the changes are not retrospective but the bulk of them are, and common law fills most of the gaps. This is a significant and very positive step forward.”
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, he noted that he would have liked for the changes to be fully retrospective.
“Those abuse before this legislation becomes law still have no Catholic Church entity to sue, although the Bishops have undertaken to provide a defendant. However, in more than thirty cases, the Bishop of Ballarat has pleaded that he is not vicariously liable for misconduct by priests. I am not sure that we can trust the Church,” he mused.
“The royal commission found that the average time from abuse to firsts complaint was 22 years. It will be a long time before this legislation is effective. However, it leads the way in getting rid of the Ellis defence and makes institutions liable for abuse on their watch, without the need to show fault.”
