When Power Goes Wrong · Liability & Remedy Ledger · Part 02

When is the Crown liable for a public official’s wrong?

Section 6 of the Crown Proceedings Act makes the Crown liable in tort in specified circumstances broadly comparable to a private person, including torts committed by servants or agents, subject to statutory limits and immunities.

Section 6 is the central Crown tort provision. It subjects the Crown to tort liabilities comparable to those of a private person for torts of servants or agents, employer duties, and duties attaching to ownership or control of property.

The provision is not a blank cheque. For vicarious liability under s 6(1)(a), the official's act must itself be capable of constituting a tort apart from the Crown Proceedings Act.

Official immunity and Crown liability can diverge.The current Act expressly says that certain good-faith public-service immunities do not prevent a court finding the Crown itself liable in tort. The employee may be protected personally while the Crown remains the correct defendant.

Potential causesNegligence, false imprisonment, trespass and other recognised torts depending on facts.

Core provisionCrown Proceedings Act 1950, s 6.

Necessary stepIdentify the underlying tort and prove its elements.

LimitThe Act also preserves special statutory limits and excludes Crown tort proceedings for judicial responsibilities under s 6(5).

The Crown Proceedings Act creates liability architecture; it does not eliminate the need to prove duty, breach, causation, damage or the elements of the particular tort.

Primary statuteCrown Proceedings Act 1950, s 6.

← Series index · Previous · Next →