AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
[written submission]
[appendix 1]
[appendix 2
[appendix 3]
[appendix 4]
GENEVIEVE GANNON AAP MAY 29, 2013
AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic says the Victorian government would be “discriminating against the Catholic community” if it adopts law reforms wanted by sex abuse victims.
Cardinal George Pell said the Ellis defence, a NSW Supreme Court ruling that found the trustees of the Catholic Church were not liable for the actions of pedophile priests, was a “commonsense proposition”.
Advocates and legal experts have called for the repeal of laws preventing church trustees from being sued for abuse by clergy.
Monash University academic Judith Corin says doing so would enable victims to pursue greater damages through the courts.
In a written submission to Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse, Cardinal Pell said the principle of the Ellis decision was that an entity could not be liable for the wrongdoing of others unless it authorised or was responsible for supervising their conduct.
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