AUSTRALIA
SBS
A consultation paper launched by the federal child sex abuse royal commission looks at who is a proper defendant when it comes to being sued.
The child sexual abuse royal commission suggests it may be appropriate to amend state and territory laws so the property trusts of churches and religious bodies can be sued for abuse.
In a consultation paper on redress and civil litigation launched on Friday the commission looks at who is a proper defendant when it comes to being sued.
Last year it heard one of the most famous cases in this sphere when it examined the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s legal response to abuse survivor John Ellis.
Mr Ellis failed in his attempt to sue the diocesan trust when a court ruled it could not be held liable.
Cardinal George Pell defended the finding as confirming an existing law and since then church entities use the Ellis defence to deter abuse victims from going to court.
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