Occupiers' liability and foreseeable risk of harm

In brief – Claimant fails to establish that risk of harm was foreseeable

In the case of Novakovic v Stekovic [2012] NSWCA 54 (27 March 2012), the Court of Appeal has recently considered the requisite criteria for establishing whether a risk of harm was foreseeable such that precautions were warranted to avoid that risk eventuating.

The decision of the court below was upheld, finding that the appellant had not established that the risk of harm was foreseeable.

Incident at residential premises

The appellant, Ms Mileva Novakovic, brought proceedings in the District Court against the respondents, Mr and Mrs Stekovic (her brother and sister in law) for injuries arising from an incident at their home on 19 January 2008.