Kuperman v Permanent Trustee Australia Limited
[2023] QCA 54 · Mullins P, Dalton JA and Bradley J
Ms Kuperman (later known as Ms Luck) filed a court claim in 1998 for injuries she said she suffered when she slipped on wet tiles at the Toowong Village Shopping Centre in 1995. She took no meaningful step to progress the case for more than 19 years. In 2022 she applied for permission to continue the claim, and the shopping centre trustee asked the court to dismiss it for delay. The District Court refused permission and dismissed the whole claim, finding the delay was long, unexplained, and had caused real prejudice because medical practitioners could no longer be found and key documents had been lost. She had also actively run dozens of other court cases in that period, which undermined her explanation that disability and lack of money had stopped her. Representing herself, she appealed. The Court of Appeal found no error in the primary judge's decision and dismissed the appeal with costs. The underlying injury claim cannot now go forward.
Incident & injury
Slipped on wet tiles on a walkway from the carpark at a shopping centre
- Body regions
- Multiple regions / generalised
- Incident date
- 14 February 1995
- Location
- Toowong Village Shopping Centre, Brisbane
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 28 March 2023
- Claim type
- PIPA Public Liability
- Proceeding
- Appeal
- Plaintiff outcome
- Unsuccessful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- Occupation
- Not stated
Outcome
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appellant's appeal against the primary judge's refusal of leave to proceed and dismissal of her 1998 personal injury claim for want of prosecution after a delay of over 19 years. The appeal was dismissed with costs.
Key issues
Kuperman v Permanent Trustee Australia Limited [2023] QCA 54
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