ACCIDENT LAW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23574, 7 February 1940, Page 12

ACCIDENT LAW

ABSOLUTE LIABILITY COMMITTEE TO INQUIRE PERSONAL INJURIES EXAMINATION OK BASIS [UT- TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION:] WELLINGTON, Tuesday Acting on the recommendation .of thet- Law i Revision'. Committee, the Cabinet has set up a .special, committee to examine; the basis of liability for personal .'injuries arising from the use of motorvehicle to investigate the practicability; of adopting in such cases the, principle qf absolute .liability, without to: negligence, and to •consider what limitations would be necessary if.such a rule were adopted. This announcement was made this evening by. the Minister of Justice, the Hon. H. G."R. Mason. The Minister' said 'that the 1 committee would consist of four persons who had had long experience oF the problems rising out of'. motor iaccidents,; and a. fifth member representing the general body of road users. - Committee The committee;would be constituted as follows:—-Chairman, Mr. H. F. O'Leary, K.C.; members, Mr. 71. Caughjey, chairman of tlie Underwriters' Association, Mr. J H. Jerram, general manager of the State Fire Insurance Department, Mr. W. It<. Leicester. barrister and solicitor, and, Mr. J. Read, secretary of the Timber Workers' Union. Wellington branch. Under the present law, the Minister explained, a person injured in a motor accident could not recover damages unless he could' prove that the accident was caused by the wrongdoing (generally negligence) of some other person and no less than a third of the Supreme Court's time was now taken up with attempts'to determine liability. Attitude of Juries To do so a number of very complicated rules and principles had been evolved, the Minister added, and it was common knowledge, not only among lawyers, that juries to-day, knowing that every motor vehicle in New Zealand was covered by a third party insurance policy, were prone to give judgment for plaintiff in a runningdown case on very slender evidence. The committee would consider the financial, legal, social and other consequences that would result from importing into the law the principle of absolute liability. In order that the committee might commence its deliberations as soon as possible, all persons or bodies who wished to supply information or give evidence before the committee were requested by the Minister to communicate not later than February 19 with Dr. A. M. I 1 inlay, secretary to the committee, at the office of the Minister of Justice.