''Henwood v Municipal Tramways Trust (SA)'', was a significant

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component * Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books * Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to c ...

, decided in the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

on 30 June 1938. The case was an influential decision in the law of

negligence Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...

and is an authority for the proposition that the unlawful act of the deceased did not absolve the Trust from

civil liability In law, liable means "responsible or answerable in law; legally obligated". Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agencie ...

for its

Brief overview

Henwood, while riding the

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

, was overcome by a fit of

nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...

and stuck his head out the window. This breached a

bylaw A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

made by the tram authority as a safety precaution, and he was struck twice by standards outside the tram.

Ruling

It was held that although he was breaking the law, he was still under the protection of the law, and as such the Tramways Trust was liable for negligence in allowing him to be struck. "It was there held that there is no general rule denying a person who is doing an unlawful act the protection of the general law imposing upon others duties of care for his safety." This makes more sense when you look at another example, again mentioned by Finnegan P, of an occupier who shoots someone breaking into the house, such as ''Revill v Newbery'',. where the defendant shot the plaintiff who was breaking and entering. The defendant, or the occupier, was held liable for criminal damages, even though it was in defence of his home. In that case the plaintiff was also held liable for trespass.

References

High Court of Australia cases 1938 in Australian law 1938 in case law Australian tort case law {{Australia-law-stub

Brief overview

Ruling

See also

References