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Hayne victim's civil case heard in court

Luke CostinAAP
A woman Jarryd Hayne was convicted of raping is claiming damages for battery and assault.
Camera IconA woman Jarryd Hayne was convicted of raping is claiming damages for battery and assault. Credit: AAP

Jarryd Hayne's rape victim has filed an "embarrassingly hopeless" case against the jailed former NRL star, his lawyer has told a NSW court.

The victim, a woman aged in her late 20s, is claiming damages for battery and assault in the NSW Supreme Court, after Hayne was convicted of sexual assault in March.

He is appealing that conviction.

Hayne did not appear at a NSW Supreme Court directions hearing on Wednesday regarding the civil suit but his lawyer attacked the quality of the woman's claim.

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David Baran said the case pleads out a re-enactment of what was alleged in the criminal trial and had a "whole multitude" of issues.

Those include no explanation for the torts of battery and assault and no detailing of a claim for aggravated damages

"The entire pleading is embarrassingly hopeless," he said.

Efforts to rectify the issues last week have gone unanswered, the court was told.

Regardless, the case would be impacted by Hayne's criminal appeal hearing in November, when he seeks to again agitate a defence of consent.

"If the Court of Criminal Appeal overturns it, a number of dimensions of this case change," Mr Baran said.

Gerard Gooden, representing the woman, also expressed frustrations with the other side, including getting no "sensible response" about proposed suppression orders.

As a sexual assault victim, the woman's identity is suppression by law but Mr Gooden has proposed having the court suppress identities of all parties, including Hayne.

Mr Baran said the fact of Hayne's convictions couldn't be used as a fact of the case.

He suggested if it wasn't removed, Hayne would ask the court to set aside such references, as part of a broader strike out application.

But Mr Gooden said the convictions weren't "proof of the facts but they are relevant".

"In regard to the pleading, if my friend wishes to agitate that matter, he can put on his motion," he told the court.

"We don't accept what he's saying."

Registrar Karen Jones agreed to adjourn the civil case until February 2 to permit the conviction appeal to be finalised.

A judge is also due to consider the suppression order application in coming days.

A Sydney jury in March found Hayne had - beyond reasonable doubt - sexually assaulted the woman in her bedroom the night of the 2018 NRL Grand Final.

In sentencing the 33-year-old to a non-parole-period of three years and eight months, District Court Judge Helen Syme said the victim's honesty had been tested at length during Hayne's trial but the jury and the judge believed her, not Hayne.

"She (the victim) has every right to feel safe from attack in the privacy of her home," the judge said.

"I do not accept the offender did not know or did not hear the victim telling him she did not want to have sex with him."

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