AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Cardinal Pell will be called this week to give evidence at royal commission into child sex abuse

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MARCH 10, 2014

* Pell will be asked about ‘legal brick wall’ church use to protect itself against victims’ claims

THE nation’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, will be called this week to give evidence at the royal commission into child sex abuse about the legal brick wall the church used to protect itself against victims’ claims.

The Catholic Church is notorious for hiding behind what is known as the “Ellis defence’’, a NSW Court of Appeal ruling that means the church does not exist as a legal entity that is capable of being sued.

It is understood there has not been a single court judgment against the Catholic Church anywhere in Australia, although numerous cases have been settled out of court. The…