CIVIL LIABILITY ACT 2002 - SECT 26Q Orders for payment of damages out of money held in trust for victims of offender

CIVIL LIABILITY ACT 2002 - SECT 26Q

26Q Orders for payment of damages out of money held in trust for victims of offender

(1) A court that awards damages to a person on a victim claim against an offender may, if satisfied that the claim is eligible to be satisfied from a victim trust fund for victims of the offender, order that the whole or a specified part of those damages is to be paid out of money held in the victim trust fund.

(2) Before the court orders the payment of damages out of money held in the victim trust fund, the court must consider--

(a) whether there are or are likely to be other victim claims eligible to be satisfied from the victim trust fund that may be ordered to be wholly or partly satisfied by payment from the victim trust fund, and

(b) the amount of the damages likely to be awarded in respect of those claims.

(3) In determining the amount of any damages to be ordered to be paid out of a victim trust fund, a court must ensure that the amount ordered to be paid--

(a) is fair and reasonable having regard to the existence of other claims that are eligible to be satisfied from the fund and that may be ordered to be wholly or partly satisfied by payment from the fund, and the amounts likely to be awarded in respect of those claims, and

(b) does not, as a proportion of the amount of the victim trust fund, exceed the proportion that the damages awarded represents as a proportion of the total damages likely to be awarded in respect of all claims eligible to be satisfied from the fund.

(4) A court may defer making an order for the payment of damages out of a victim trust fund until the court is satisfied that it is able to make a reasonable assessment of the extent of claims eligible to be satisfied from the fund.

(5) The payment of an amount out of a victim trust fund in accordance with an order of a court under this section is taken to be a payment made at the direction of the offender and operates as a discharge, to the extent of the payment, of--

(a) the liability of the protected defendant to pay the amount to the offender concerned as offender damages, and

(b) the obligation of the NSW Trustee and Guardian to hold the amount in trust for the offender concerned.

(6) An order of a court under this section is not subject to appeal except on a question of law.