Leichhardt Municipal Council v Montgomery

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAGLEESON CJKIRBY, HAYNE, CALLINAN AND CRENNAN JJLEICHHARDT MUNICIPAL COUNCIL  APPELLANTANDLESLIE MONTGOMERY  RESPONDENTLeichhardt Municipal Council v Montgomery [2007] HCA 627 February 2007S188/2006ORDER1.        Appeal allowed;2.Set aside so much of paragraph 1 of the orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales made on 8 December 2005 as dismissed the appeal to that Court;3.Remit the matter to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales for further hearing; and 4.        The appellant to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal to this Court.On appeal from the Supreme Court of New South WalesRepresentationP R Garling SC with R S Sheldon for the appellant (instructed by Phillips Fox)G T W Miller QC with A R Reoch for the respondent (instructed by Teakle Ormsby Conn)Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSLeichhardt Municipal Council v MontgomeryTorts – Negligence – Duty of care – Roads authority – Independent contractor employed by roads authority to perform work on public road – Work not extra-hazardous – Independent contractor performed work negligently – Road user injured – Whether roads authority owed road user a non-delegable duty of care – Common features of relationships attracting non-delegable duties of care in common law of Australia – Whether existence of non-delegable duty of care consistent with Brodie v Singleton Shire Council (2005) 206 CLR 512 – Whether exception to general rule that a party is not...