A Difficult Trial Is Not An Unfair Trial: The High Threshold Of Permanent Stays

Warning: This article contains details about abuse which may be upsetting for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

The plaintiff, a former resident at Nazareth House, brought a claim against the Sisters of Nazareth for alleged sexual, physical and psychological abuse suffered when she was a child. Key issues related to whether an application for a permanent stay on the grounds of prejudice by reason of a loss of evidence due to the passage of time and an inability to identify the alleged perpetrators constituted the kind of ‘exceptional circumstances’ so as to justify a stay.

In issue

Having regard to the 'new normative structure'¹ created after the removal of limitation periods in historical child abuse cases, the Victorian Court of Appeal was required to consider whether the following issues constituted the kind of 'exceptional circumstances'² that warrant a permanent stay of the proceedings: