YONG SHUI TIAN v MAJLIS PERBANDARAN LANGKAWI BANDARAYA PELANCONGAN

Case Significance

A significant illustration of a local authority's statutory duty under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1976 to maintain and make safe trees in public places, and of appellate correction where a trial court has wrongly absolved the authority of liability for injuries caused by a falling tree.

This Court of Appeal decision concerns the liability of a local authority for injuries caused by a falling tree on a public beach. The appellant suffered serious injuries, resulting in paralysis of the lower half of his body, when a coconut tree unexpectedly fell on him while he was on Pantai Chenang beach in Langkawi in January 2019. He sued the respondent, the local authority for Langkawi established under the Local Government Act 1976, in negligence and for breach of statutory duty, contending that it owed a duty under section 101 of that Act to control, supervise and maintain the trees on the beach, and to trim or remove trees that endangered public safety. The High Court had dismissed the claim with costs. On appeal the Court of Appeal took a different view. Examining the statutory duties under section 101(b), (c) and (cc)(i) of the Local Government Act 1976 and the evidence about the condition of the trees and the authority's management of them, it concluded that the respondent was liable. It allowed the appeal and held the respondent wholly liable for the injuries the appellant sustained as a result of the coconut tree falling on him. It set aside the High Court's judgment and, because the High Court had not adjudicated the claim for damages, remitted the assessment of damages to be heard before a different judge at the High Court, ordering costs of RM30,000 here and below, subject to allocatur. The court's decision underscores that the statutory responsibilities of a local authority for public spaces are not merely administrative but can found civil liability to a member of the public injured by a hazard the authority ought to have addressed, and that an appellate court will intervene where the trial court has failed to give those duties their proper effect. The judgment is a significant illustration of a local authority's statutory duty to maintain and make safe trees in public places, and of appellate correction where a trial court has wrongly absolved the authority of liability.