Page Category: 2007 January
January 02, 2007 11:00pm
A JUDGE'S ruling could allow more victims of child sex offences to sue for compensation on the higher civil court scale.
It is believed to be the first case involving legal argument on whether a guilty plea to sexual misconduct could be the basis for extending the time in which civil damages actions can be brought.
District Court judge John Robertson extended the time in which a woman could sue her father for mental or nervous shock.
Many sexual abuse victims from decades ago had previously sued only for criminal compensation because they had no basis to extend an expired limitation period to bring a damages action in the civil courts.
The court was told a father sexually abused his daughter, then aged nine to 10 years, between July 1976 and January 1978. It was not until 2004 that she made a complaint to police, and last month her father pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent dealing.
The woman would have been restricted to a maximum $5000 payout had she sought criminal compensation. She elected to sue in a civil court under common law, which meant she was restricted by a limitation that ran out in 1988.
The woman went to the District Court in Maroochydore seeking the limitation period be extended to last month.
Under Queensland law, a limitation period can be extended provided applicants show there is new material.
Lawyers for the woman argued her father pleading guilty was a "material fact of decisive character" she did not have until December 2005.
In a written judgment available yesterday, Judge Robertson said no one had found any other decided case where the "material fact of a decisive nature" was a guilty plea by the defendant.
He said that in his opinion the woman proved the onus on her to provide a material fact. The matter will go to a civil hearing.
It has been an honor and a privilege to provide more than 20 years of availability to those who seek further
information on the reality of the global clergy abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic and other religions.
Contact me if you need assistance in locating specific pages or if you or someone you know sees the importance
of keeping these pages active by assisting in keeping the full access to the sites information available to the
general public.
If you found this information to be of assistance please don't forget to donate so that we can extend these information pages which are focused on providing knowledge and information to survivor/victims on their Human Rights with justice, compassion and empathy at the fore along with sound knowledge of Human Biology and Psychology, Human Evolution and Neuroscience. Information is not provided as legal or professional advice; it is provided as general information only and requires that you validate any information via your own legal or other professional service providers.
Check out tfyqa.biz history here
Look for these other respected FAQyMe Gene-affiliated, secular social-inclusion sites
Clergy Abuse Action - repurposed || Molested Catholics by the Million || Captain Obvious - My Broken Society || A first in Secular Australia for Children - It's not Rocket Science || The Blue Print - It's OH so Obvious - repurposed || The GCAC - The Global Clergy Abuse Crisis - repurposed || TFYQA Think for Yourself, Question Authority || XT3 Molested Catholic courtesy of George Pell and babbling Benny || Defending the Human Rights of Catholic Adults and Children Trauma in Religion || OFFLINE The FAQyMe Gene - The FAQ Why Me Gene blog
Trauma in Religion and the @FAQyMeGene #FAQyMeGene recent listing on Trove TiR and the FAQyMeGene on Trove
Facebook - Twitter - PayPal.me/JohnABrown
A lack of denial is a terrifying thing to encounter by those still immersed in hiding from their own failings.
trauma informed human rights justice failed institutions UN Convention on Human Rights Rights of the Child and a Bill of Rights for Australia future evidence resilience not providing or representing a secular Australia autodidact
Hegemony: The authority, dominance, and influence of one group, nation, or society over another group, nation, or society; typically through cultural, economic, or political means.
.
Check for the latest on the FAQyMe Gene
You can directly support my work at PayPal John A Brown. Read more about John Brown here