AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
Helen Davidson
theguardian.com, Tuesday 25 March 2014
The “vigorous” defence against abuse victim John Ellis was seen as an opportunity to show future claimants they should think twice before litigating against the Catholic Church, Cardinal George Pell has admitted.
Ellis’s claim was an “attack” on the trustees of the Catholic Church by people who were not “entirely reasonable”, Pell told the royal commission into child sexual abuse.
Ellis was treated differently to other claimants because he was a “brilliant” lawyer.
Pell is appearing before the commission’s eighth public hearing for a second day of questioning on the handling of the Ellis case. Ellis was sexually abused by a priest, Father Aiden Duggan, beginning when Ellis was a 13-year-old altar boy. The church won the civil case brought against it in 2007, establishing the so called “Ellis Defence” that the church as an entity cannot be sued.
Law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth ran a “vigorous” defence against Ellis’s claims, which Pell said was simply putting Ellis’s claims “to the proof” rather than denying the truthfulness of them. Ellis, as a lawyer, should have been able to make the distinction, said Pell.
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