Citation

Taylor V, Nankivell J. J. Law Med. 2012; 20(1): 204-215.

Affiliation

vtaylor@netspace.net.au

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Thompson - LBC Information Services)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

23156657

Abstract

For 10 years, the refugee now known by the pseudonym XFJ attempted to gain accreditation to drive a taxi-cab. After many internal reviews and rejections by the Victorian Taxi Directorate, XFJ appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The difficulty for XFJ was that shortly after arriving in Australia, he had killed his estranged wife. The Supreme Court of Victoria subsequently found him not guilty of murder on the grounds of insanity. Since XFJ's mental health has been stable for many years, much of the legal argument at VCAT and the court cases that followed centred around whether he was "suitable in other respects to provide the service" of driving a taxi, as required by s 169(1)(b)(ii) of the Transport Act 1983 (Vic). This article looks at the tension between the expert medical evidence and the concept of "suitable in other respects" which XFJ's opponents claimed included the maintenance of public confidence and the meeting of community expectations.

Language: en