On 28 October 1990, the then Attorney General, the Honourable John Dowd QC made the following reference to the Commission.

To inquire into and report upon:

1. the manner of assessment of damages (whether in respect of tort or other breach of duty) in cases where uncertainty exists as to the future conditions or events relevant to the quantum of the plaintiff’s recoverable loss;

2. the desirability of the introduction of a scheme enabling a court to defer the final assessment of damages in order to allow the quantum of loss to be determined more precisely;

3. the form of any such scheme, including consideration of the court’s power to make orders for provisional damages pending final assessment of loss;

4. any related matter.

The Law Reform Commission is constituted by the Law Reform Commission Act 1967. Pursuant to section 12A of the Act, the Chairman has constituted a Division for the purposes of this reference. The members of the Division are:

The Hon RM Hope QC
Associate Professor David Weisbrot
Mr Ronald Sackville QC

Mr Peter Hennessy

Mrs Sally Riordan
Mr James Hirshman

Ms Beverley Caska

Mr Richard Turner
Mrs Nozveen Khan

Mrs Nozveen Khan
Ms Nancy Klein
Mrs Shirley Lucke

Ms Zoya Howes

The Commission invites submissions on the issues raised in this Discussion Paper. Submissions and comments should reach the Commission by 27 March 1992. All enquiries and comments should be directed to:

Peter Hennessy
Executive Director
NSW Law Reform Commission
GPO Box 5199
SYDNEY NSW 2001

Telephone: (02) 252 3855
Fax: (02) 247 1054