Stuart v Kirkland-Veenstra

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAFRENCH CJ,GUMMOW, HAYNE, HEYDON, CRENNAN AND KIEFEL JJDAVID STUART & ANOR  APPELLANTSANDTANIA KIRKLAND-VEENSTRA & ANOR  RESPONDENTSStuart v Kirkland-Veenstra [2009] HCA 1522 April 2009M39/2008ORDER1.        Appeal allowed.2.Set aside the orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria made on 29 February 2008, except insofar as they deal in paragraph 4 with the costs of the appeal to that Court, and in their place order that:(a)each party bear its own costs of the proceedings at first instance; and(b)the appeal to the Court of Appeal be otherwise dismissed.3.Appellants to pay first respondent's costs of the appeal to this Court.On appeal from the Supreme Court of VictoriaRepresentationJ Ruskin QC with R J Orr for the appellants (instructed by Victorian Government Solicitor)J H Kennan SC with P T Vout and P Halley for the first respondent (instructed by Slater & Gordon)M F Wheelahan SC with M D Rush for the second respondent (instructed by Deacons Lawyers)Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSStuart v Kirkland-VeenstraTorts – Negligence – Duty of care – Where Mental Health Act 1986 (Vic), s 10 empowered police to apprehend person who "appears to be mentally ill" if reasonable grounds for believing that person had recently attempted suicide or likely to do so – Where police came upon man who appeared to have been contemplating suicide but showed no sign of mental illness – Interaction of common law and relationship established...