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Witting, Christian --- "Leichhardt Municipal Council v Montgomery: Non-Delegable Duties and Roads Authorities" [2008] MelbULawRw 11; (2008) 32(1) Melbourne University Law Review 332

[*] [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22 (‘Leichhardt’).

[†] BEc, LLB (Monash), SJD (Melb); Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria; Associate Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne. Many thanks to John Murphy from the University of Manchester and to the two anonymous referees whose comments on an earlier draft saved me from making several egregious errors. All errors and omissions remain mine alone.

[1] Wilsons & Clyde Coal Co Ltd v English [1937] UKHL 2; [1938] AC 57, 65 (Lord Thankerton) (‘Wilsons’).

[2] ‘Employers are not exempted from this duty by the fact that their men are experienced and might, if they were in the position of an employer, be able to lay down a reasonably safe system of work themselves. Workmen are not in the position of employers’: General Cleaning Contractors Ltd v Christmas [1953] AC 180, 190 (Lord Oaksey). See also Kondis v State Transport Authority [1984] HCA 61; (1984) 154 CLR 672 (‘Kondis’).

[3] T R O Boston, ‘A Hospital’s Non‑Delegable Duty of Care’ (2003) 10 Journal of Law and Medicine 364, 365. See also Elliott v Bickerstaff [1999] NSWCA 453; (1999) 48 NSWLR 214, 237 (Giles JA).

[4] See especially Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 69 (Hayne J).

[5] Montgomery v Leichhardt Municipal Council (Unreported, District Court of New South Wales, Judge Quirk, 1 December 2004).

[6] Leichhardt Municipal Council v Montgomery [2005] NSWCA 432 (Unreported, Mason P, Hodgson and McColl JJA, 8 December 2005).

[7] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 27 (Gleeson CJ). See ibid [23] (Hodgson JA) for the similar sentiment of the New South Wales Court of Appeal.

[8] Leichhardt Municipal Council v Montgomery [2005] NSWCA 432 (Unreported, Mason P, Hodgson and McColl JJA, 8 December 2005) [23] (Hodgson JA). The other members of the Court adopted the reasoning of Hodgson JA: at [1] (Mason P), [37] (McColl JA).

[9] [2001] HCA 29; (2001) 206 CLR 512.

[10] This statement reflects the outline of issues by Kirby J in Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 46–7.

[11] Ibid 33 (Gleeson CJ). See also Kirby J: at 47. Hayne J propounded the same principle: at 68. Crennan J adopted the judgments of both Gleeson CJ and Hayne J as her own: at 88.

[12] Ibid 30, 34–6 (Gleeson CJ), 42–4, 47–8 (Kirby J).

[13] Ibid 49 (Kirby J). It should also be noted that the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) was found to have no direct application to the case. The Act does not apply to proceedings commenced in a court before the commencement of the Act: Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) sch 1 ss 2, 6. That statute did not alter retrospectively, or at all, the common law doctrines that might be applicable to the facts: ibid 41 (Kirby J).

[14] For comment upon the High Court’s tendency to denigrate conceptualism, see Christian Witting, ‘Tort Law, Policy and the High Court of Australia’ [2007] MelbULawRw 23; (2007) 31 Melbourne University Law Review 569, 571.

[15] Brodie [2001] HCA 29; (2001) 206 CLR 512, 540 (Gaudron, McHugh and Gummow JJ), 604 (Kirby J). Subsequently, legislatures have acted to reinstate the distinction: see, eg, Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) s 45; Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld) s 37.

[16] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 49 (Kirby J).

[17] Ibid 35 (Gleeson CJ), 42 (Kirby J).

[18] Ibid 42 (Kirby J).

[19] Ibid 51.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid 76–7 (Hayne J). The rest of the Court agreed with Hayne J: at 36 (Gleeson CJ), 67 (Kirby J), 88 (Callinan J), 88 (Crennan J).

[22] Ibid 27.

[23] Ibid, quoting Kondis [1984] HCA 61; (1984) 154 CLR 672, 687 (Mason J).

[24] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 29.

[25] This terminology is that of the present author, as Gleeson CJ did not give the concept a specific name.

[26] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 29.

[27] Ibid 31–3. In England, at least, a non‑delegable duty exists based upon authorities such as Dalton v Angus (1881) 6 App Cas 740, 829 (Lord Blackburn). Gleeson CJ referred to earlier views of Mason J, who classified this type of case as one of nuisance: at 206, referring to Kondis [1984] HCA 61; (1984) 154 CLR 672, 682. Another category (no doubt overlapping with that previously mentioned) involves extra‑hazardous activities. Although Gleeson CJ conceded that road works could involve extra‑hazardous activities, that category of case was not presently relevant: Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 33.

[28] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 34–5.

[29] Ibid 35.

[30] New South Wales v Lepore [2003] HCA 4; (2003) 212 CLR 511, 522 (Gleeson CJ), 560 (Gaudron J), 581 (Gummow and Hayne JJ) (‘Lepore’).

[31] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 30.

[32] Ibid 36.

[33] Ibid 35.

[34] Ibid 36.

[35] Ibid.

[36] Ibid 51 fn 121 (Kirby J), citing Christian Witting, ‘Breach of the Non‑Delegable Duty: Defending Limited Strict Liability in Tort [2006] UNSWLawJl 38; (2006) 29 University of New South Wales Law Journal 33.

[37] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 51 (Kirby J).

[38] Ibid, citing John Murphy, ‘The Liability Bases of Common Law Non‑Delegable Duties — A Reply to Christian Witting’ [2007] UNSWLawJl 4; (2007) 30 University of New South Wales Law Journal 86, 99.

[39] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 52 (Kirby J).

[40] Ibid 51–2, citing Murphy, ‘Liability Bases of Common Law Non‑Delegable Duties’, above n 38, 97.

[41] [2003] HCA 4; (2003) 212 CLR 511, 551–3.

[42] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 64.

[43] Ibid 52.

[44] Ibid 59–60.

[45] Ibid 65–6.

[46] Ibid 61.

[47] Ibid 58.

[48] Ibid 66.

[49] Ibid.

[50] Ibid 75.

[51] Ibid 76.

[52] Ibid.

[53] Ibid 70.

[54] Ibid.

[55] Ibid 76.

[56] Ibid 74–5.

[57] Ibid 76.

[58] Ibid 87.

[59] Ibid 84. See above n 8 and accompanying text.

[60] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 87.

[61] See generally Elliott v Bickerstaff [1999] NSWCA 453; (1999) 48 NSWLR 214, 245 (Giles JA); Ellis v Wallsend District Hospital (1989) 17 NSWLR 553, 601–5 (Samuels JA); Albrighton v Royal Prince Alfred Hospital [1980] 2 NSWLR 542, 561–2 (Reynolds JA); Cassidy v Ministry of Health [1951] 2 KB 343, 365 (Denning LJ).

[62] Brodie [2001] HCA 29; (2001) 206 CLR 512.

[63] This is especially so given the recent implementation of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) and corresponding legislation in other states.

[64] [1994] HCA 13; (1994) 179 CLR 520.

[65] Ibid 552.

[66] Ibid 554.

[67] [2003] HCA 4; (2003) 212 CLR 511. Judgments in this case were somewhat incoherent. However, Gummow and Hayne JJ clearly conceived of the non‑delegable duty as invoking strict liability: at 599.

[68] (2001) 207 CLR 562. For commentary on this case, see Witting, ‘Tort Law, Policy and the High Court of Australia’, above n 14; Christian Witting, ‘The Three‑Stage Test Abandoned in Australia — Or Not?’ (2002) 118 Law Quarterly Review 214.

[69] This is the subject of express comment in Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 37–8 (Kirby J).

[70] Ibid 27 (Gleeson CJ, describing the duty as ‘concerning the nature or content of the duty of care’), 52 (Kirby J, describing the duty as a ‘sub‑species’ of ‘particular torts’), 75–6 (Hayne J, describing the duty as a ‘principle’), 83–4, 87–8 (Callinan J, describing the duty as a ‘principle’).

[71] Ibid 29, 34–5 (Gleeson CJ), 70 (Hayne J). The view that the non‑delegable duty is nothing other than a ‘fictitious guise’ for vicarious liability was propounded, inter alia, by John G Fleming, The Law of Torts (9th ed, 1998) 434.

[72] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 27, 29 (Gleeson CJ), 76 (Hayne J). See also Kirby J at 40–1.

[73] Ibid 29 (Gleeson CJ, Crennan J agreeing), 70 (Hayne J).

[74] Callinan J retired on 1 September 2007, while Gleeson CJ must retire by 30 August 2008 and Kirby J by 18 March 2009: George Williams, ‘Discerning Judge of Character’, The Australian (Australia), 7 July 2007, 24. Callinan J has been succeeded by Kiefel J, who was appointed on 3 September 2007: Current Members of the High Court, High Court of Australia (2007) <http://www.hcourt.gov.au/kiefelj.htm> .

[75] Many of the ideas explored in this Part were developed at length in Witting, ‘Breach of the Non‑Delegable Duty’, above n 36.

[76] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 31–3.

[77] Ibid 51–2. Murphy is the current editor of the influential English treatise Street on Torts (12th ed, 2007).

[78] Murphy, ‘Liability Bases of Common Law Non‑Delegable Duties’, above n 38, 95.

[79] Ibid 99–100.

[80] See Witting, ‘Breach of the Non‑Delegable Duty’, above n 36, 37–48.

[81] The general nature of the duty of care is attested to by the Court’s formulation of tests for identifying duties of care: see Graham Barclay Oysters Pty Ltd v Ryan [2002] HCA 54; (2002) 211 CLR 540, 622–9 (Kirby J).

[82] Elliott v Bickerstaff [1999] NSWCA 453; (1999) 48 NSWLR 214, 245 (Giles JA); Ellis v Wallsend District Hospital (1989) 17 NSWLR 553, 601–2 (Samuels JA); Albrighton v Royal Prince Alfred Hospital [1980] 2 NSWLR 542, 561–2 (Reynolds JA); Cassidy v Ministry of Health [1951] 2 KB 343, 365 (Denning LJ).

[83] Commonwealth v Introvigne [1982] HCA 40; (1982) 150 CLR 258.

[84] McDermid v Nash Dredging & Reclamation Co Ltd [1986] UKHL 5; [1987] AC 906 (‘McDermid’); Wilsons [1937] UKHL 2; [1938] AC 57; Kondis [1984] HCA 61; (1984) 154 CLR 672.

[85] Dalton v Angus (1881) 6 App Cas 740, 829 (Lord Blackburn); Bower v Peate [1876] UKLawRpKQB 35; (1876) 1 QBD 321; Burnie Port Authority [1994] HCA 13; (1994) 179 CLR 520.

[86] McDermid [1986] UKHL 5; [1987] AC 906, 919 (Lord Brandon); Wilsons [1937] UKHL 2; [1938] AC 57, 84 (Lord Wright), 88 (Lord Maugham).

[87] This is an inference to be drawn from the nature of the claims made in each of the non‑delegable duty cases cited in this note (the lateral support cases aside). The inference is strengthened considerably by the re‑characterisation of a small number of cases involving property damage, such as Morris v C W Martin & Sons Ltd [1966] 1 QB 716; Lister v Hesley Hall [2002] 1 AC 215, 224–6 (Lord Slynn).

[88] In such cases, claims have been made for damage to property: see, eg, Bower v Peate [1876] UKLawRpKQB 35; (1876) 1 QBD 321.

[89] One notes, however, that a risk of injury is not the same as actual injury: Stephen Perry, ‘Risk, Harm, Interests, and Rights’ in Tim Lewens (ed), Risk: Philosophical Perspectives (2007) 190. The underlying contention of the present author is that the courts are desirous of eliminating risks of personal injury because these might manifest themselves as personal injury.

[90] Undoubtedly this is because of the narrow definition of the duty in these cases.

[91] For further support of the view that the non‑delegable duty involves a ‘distinct basis for … liability’, see, eg, John Davies, ‘Tort’ in Peter Birks (ed), English Private Law (2000) vol 2, 517.

[92] Hunter v Canary Wharf Ltd [1997] AC 655, 692 (Lord Goff); R P Balkin and J L R Davis, Law of Torts (3rd ed, 2004) 490; Simon Deakin, Angus Johnston and Basil Markesinis, Markesinis and Deakin’s Tort Law (5th ed, 2003) 472; Paula Giliker and Silas Beckwith, Tort (2000) 231–2; Michael A Jones, Textbook on Torts (8th ed, 2002) 356; W V H Rogers, Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort (16th ed, 2002) 522–3; Francis Trindade, Peter Cane and Mark Lunney, The Law of Torts in Australia (4th ed, 2007) 175.

[93] Witting, ‘Breach of the Non‑Delegable Duty’, above n 36, 39.

[94] See, eg, Cassidy v Ministry of Health [1951] 2 KB 343.

[95] Ibid, where the plaintiff failed at trial to prove any negligence on the part of the hospital but on appeal the hospital was found to have breached its non‑delegable duty to give proper treatment to the patient.

[96] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 27 (Gleeson CJ), 63 (Kirby J), 68 (Hayne J). See also Hughes v Percival (1883) 8 App Cas 443, 446 (Lord Blackburn); Blackwater v Plint [2005] 3 SCR 3, 24 (McLachlin CJC); Northern Sandblasting Pty Ltd v Harris [1997] HCA 39; (1997) 188 CLR 313, 332 (Brennan J), 368 (McHugh J); Kondis [1984] HCA 61; (1984) 154 CLR 672, 686 (Mason J); Commonwealth v Introvigne [1982] HCA 40; (1982) 150 CLR 258, 269 (Mason J).

[97] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 65.

[98] See Sutherland Shire Council v Heyman [1985] HCA 41; (1985) 157 CLR 424, 443 (Gibbs CJ), 478 (Brennan J), 502 (Deane J).

[99] See Witting, ‘Breach of the Non‑Delegable Duty’, above n 36, 46–7. See also Davies, above n 91, 516–17; Panel of Eminent Persons, Review of the Law of Negligence: Final Report (2002) 167 (‘Ipp Report’).

[100] See, eg, Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 76 (Hayne J); Lepore [2003] HCA 4; (2003) 212 CLR 511, 599–600 (Gummow and Hayne JJ). See also S Waddams, Dimensions of Private Law (2003) 104–5.

[101] D Ibbetson, A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations (1999) 181–4. See also Waddams, above n 100, 80–106.

[102] See Northern Sandblasting Pty Ltd v Harris [1997] HCA 39; (1997) 188 CLR 313, 367 (McHugh J).

[103] See, eg, Bower v Peate [1876] UKLawRpKQB 35; (1876) 1 QBD 321; Dalton v Angus (1881) 6 App Cas 740; Murphy, ‘Liability Bases of Common Law Non‑Delegable Duties’, above n 38, 98–101 (recognising the continuing validity of the ‘nuisance’ cases).

[104] See, eg, McDermid [1986] UKHL 5; [1987] AC 906.

[105] [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 52.

[106] Jules L Coleman, Risk and Wrongs (1992) 333–4.

[107] Tony Honoré, Responsibility and Fault (1999) 14.

[108] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 35 (Gleeson CJ), 70 (Hayne J).

[109] See, eg, Scott v Davis (2000) 204 CLR 333, 416 (Gummow J); Northern Sandblasting Pty Ltd v Harris [1997] HCA 39; (1997) 188 CLR 313, 330 (Brennan CJ), 350 (Toohey J), 369 (McHugh J), 402 (Kirby J); McDermid [1986] UKHL 5; [1987] AC 906, 910 (Lord Hailsham); General Cleaning Contractors Ltd v Christmas [1953] AC 180, 190 (Lord Oaksey), 194 (Lord Reid); Wilsons [1937] UKHL 2; [1938] AC 57, 70 (Lord Thankerton), 75 (Lord Macmillan), 80, 83–4 (Lord Wright), 88 (Lord Maugham). Cf Kondis [1984] HCA 61; (1984) 154 CLR 672, 687 (Mason J).

[110] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 54.

[111] See, eg, Jones, above n 92, 420.

[112] See, eg, General Cleaning Contractors Ltd v Christmas [1953] AC 180; J P Swanton, ‘Non‑Delegable Duties: Liability for the Negligence of Independent Contractors’ (Pt I) (1991) 4 Journal of Contract Law 183, 187–8.

[113] General Cleaning Contractors Ltd v Christmas [1953] AC 180, a case involving no intermediary or employee causing injury. Compare this to the position in vicarious liability: Bazley v Curry 1999 Can LII 692 (SCC); [1999] 2 SCR 534, 559 (McLachlin J); Lepore [2003] HCA 4; (2003) 212 CLR 511, 591 (Gummow and Hayne JJ).

[114] Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 60 (Kirby J).

[115] [1994] HCA 13; (1994) 179 CLR 520, 550–2 (Mason CJ, Deane, Dawson, Toohey and Gaudron JJ).

[116] The reasons that have been given for imposing non‑delegable duties have been described as ‘very general’ in nature: Leichhardt [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 63 (Kirby J). See also Scott v Davis (2000) 204 CLR 333, 417, where Gummow J observed that the Kondis criteria, as accepted in Burnie Port Authority, are ‘historically descriptive but not normatively predictive’. His Honour noted that ‘many other cases not decided on that basis also may have answered the criteria’: at 417. See also Elliott v Bickerstaff [1999] NSWCA 453; (1999) 48 NSWLR 214, 240 (Giles JA).

[117] Burnie Port Authority [1994] HCA 13; (1994) 179 CLR 520, 551, quoting Kondis [1984] HCA 61; (1984) 154 CLR 672, 687 (Mason J).

[118] [2007] HCA 6; (2007) 230 CLR 22, 64.

[119] [1998] UKHL 17; [1998] 2 All ER 577, 835. This passage was quoted in John Murphy, ‘Juridical Foundations of Common Law Non‑Delegable Duties’ in Jason W Neyers, Erika Chamberlain and Stephen G A Pitel (eds), Emerging Issues in Tort Law (2007) 385.

[120] Murphy, ‘Juridical Foundations of Common Law Non‑Delegable Duties’, above n 119, 386.

[121] I have previously concluded that the concept has little real meaning divorced from the circumstances of an injurious interaction and that, in negligence cases, it is necessary to examine the factual features linking the parties (formerly denominated as the inquiry into ‘proximity’): see Christian Witting, Liability for Negligent Misstatements (2004) 174.

[122] See above nn 82–4.

[123] For a similar comment, see Glanville Williams, ‘Liability for Independent Contractors’ [1956] Cambridge Law Journal 180, 185.

[124] See Witting, ‘Breach of the Non‑Delegable Duty’, above n 36, 48–59.

[125] For a discussion of relevant policy issues, see Jennifer H Arlen and W Bentley MacLeod, ‘Beyond Master–Servant: A Critique of Vicarious Liability’ in M Stuart Madden (ed), Exploring Tort Law (2005) 113, where it is argued that ‘organizations able to optimally regulate their agents’ care‑taking should be held directly liable for their agents’ torts whenever individual tort liability alone cannot ensure that agents and principals bear the full cost of agents’ torts’. The authors discussed the ability of the organisation to regulate activity: at 120.

[126] Witting, ‘Breach of the Non‑Delegable Duty’, above n 36, 57–9.