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CIVIL LIABILITY ACT 1936 - SECT 37

CIVIL LIABILITY ACT 1936 - SECT 37

37—Injured persons presumed to be aware of obvious risks

        (1)         If, in an action for damages for negligence, a defence of voluntary assumption of risk ( volenti non fit injuria ) is raised by the defendant and the risk is an obvious risk, the plaintiff is taken to have been aware of the risk unless the plaintiff proves, on the balance of probabilities, that he or she was not actually aware of the risk.

        (2)         For the purposes of this section, a person is aware of a risk if the person is aware of the type or kind of risk, even if the person is not aware of the precise nature, extent or manner of occurrence of the risk.

        (3)         However, in order to establish a defence of voluntary assumption of risk, it is necessary to establish that the risk was such that a reasonable person in the plaintiff's position would have taken steps (which the plaintiff did not in fact take) to avoid it.