Harriton v Stephens

Harriton v Stephens
Harriton v Stephens
Court	High Court of Australia
Full case name	Alexia Harriton (by her tutor George Harriton); Appellant v Paul Richard Stevens; Respondent
Decided	9 May 2006
Citations	[2006] HCA 15, (2006) 226 CLR 52
Case history
Prior actions	Harriton v Stephens [2004] NSWCA 93, (2004) 59 NSWLR 694, NSW Court of Appeal; Harriton v Stephens [2002] NSWSC 461, Supreme Court (NSW);
Court membership
Judges sitting	Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Callinan, Heydon & Crennan JJ
Case opinions
	(5:1) The doctor did not owe the child a duty of care. (per Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Callinan, Heydon & Crennan JJ; Hayne J not deciding; Kirby J dissenting) (6:1) The common law test for damages for negligence is incapable of application to a situation where the comparison is between life with disabilities and a state of non-existence. (per Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Callinan, Heydon & Crennan JJ; Kirby J dissenting)

Harriton v Stephens, was a decision of the High Court of Australia handed down on 9 May 2006, in which the court dismissed a "wrongful life" claim brought by a disabled woman seeking the right to compensation for being born after negligent medical advice that resulted in her mother's pregnancy not being terminated.