Monthly Archives: August 2014

Constitutional law, Constiutional law, LAW FIRM

Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (“Engineers’ case”) [1920] HCA 54 | 31 August 1920

ON 31 AUGUST 1920, the High Court of Australia delivered Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (“Engineers’ case”) [1920] HCA 54; (1920) 28 CLR 129 (31 August 1920).

Prior to the Engineers’ case, the High Court had held that the States had reserved powers and their instrumentalities were immune from Commonwealth interference. In the Engineers Case, the High Court held that, through a literal interpretation of the Constitution, the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to make laws with respect to conciliation and arbitration, allowing the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration to regulate the wages and conditions of employees of the State of Western Australia.

The case is significant because of the High Court’s adoption of a literal approach to constitutional interpretation. Per Higgins at 161-2:

“The fundamental rule of interpretation, to which all others are subordinate, is that a statute is to be expounded according to the intent of the Parliament that made it; and that intention has to be found by an examination of the language used in the statute as a whole. The question is, what does the language mean; and when we find what the language means, in its ordinary and natural sense, it is our duty to obey that meaning, even if we consider the result to be inconvenient or impolitic or improbable.”

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Damages, LAW FIRM, Personal Injury

Griffiths v Kerkemeyer [1977] HCA 45 | 31 August 1977

ON 31 AUGUST 1977, the High Court of Australia delivered Griffiths v Kerkemeyer [1977] HCA 45; (1977) 139 CLR 161 (31 August 1977).

Damages – Personal injuries – Assessment – Permanent disablement – Services provided to plaintiff gratuitously – Whether damages recoverable in respect of gratuitous services – Measure of damages – Market cost of provision of services or loss suffered by person providing them – Whether damages held in trust for person providing services.

At common law, a person disabled by the fault of another may recover damages for the commercial value of any necessary nursing and domestic services provided gratuitously by a friend or relative.

Legislation such as the Civil Liability Acts modify the common law, limiting the circumstances of entitlement and the amounts that may be claimed.

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Sydney, Australia

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LAW FIRM

Report of the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program

The report of the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program is due today, 31 August 2014.

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LAW FIRM, Litigation funding

Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd v Trendlen Pty Ltd [2006] HCA 42 | 30 August 2006

ON 30 AUGUST 2006, the High Court of Australia delivered Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd v Trendlen Pty Ltd [2006] HCA 42; (2006) 229 ALR 51 (30 August 2006)

The High Court ruled that one petrol retailer could not commence  proceedings to recover invalid petroleum licensing fees on the basis that other retailers would join the proceedings later.

For the same reasons as those expressed in Campbells Cash and Carry Pty Ltd v Fostif Pty Limited [2006] HCA 41; (2006) 229 ALR 58; (2006) 80 ALJR 1441 (30 August 2006), the High Court held that an agreement with a non-party to fund the costs of a party’s legal proceedings in return for reward (ie litigation funding) was not in itself an abuse of process or contrary to public policy.

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Sydney, Australia

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LAW FIRM, Litigation funding

Campbells Cash and Carry Pty Ltd v Fostif Pty Limited [2006] HCA 41 | 30 August 2006

ON 30 AUGUST 2006, the High Court of Australia delivered Campbells Cash and Carry Pty Ltd v Fostif Pty Limited [2006] HCA 41; (2006) 229 ALR 58; (2006) 80 ALJR 1441 (30 August 2006).

The High Court ruled that representative proceedings brought in the Supreme Court of NSW by seven retailers to recover tobacco licence fees from Campbells Cash and Carry Pty Ltd and other tobacco wholesalers were not in accordance with the Court Rules.

The court held that an agreement with a non-party to fund the costs of a party’s legal proceedings in return for reward (ie litigation funding) was not in itself an abuse of process or contrary to public policy.

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Sydney, Australia

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LAW FIRM, Negligence

Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW v Dederer [2007] HCA 42 | 30 August 2007

ON 30 AUGUST 2007, the High Court of Australia delivered Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW v Dederer [2007] HCA 42 (30 August 2007).

Mr Dederer became a partial paraplegic when at the age of 14 he dived from a bridge into the Wollamba River, striking a sandbank.

Dederer sued the Roads and Traffic Authority and the Great Lakes Shire Council for damages arising from their alleged negligence.

The Supreme Court of NSW awarded damages of $840,000, finding contributory negligence of the plaintiff in the order of 25%. The damages were apportioned with the RTA to pay 80% and the council 20%. The NSW Court of Appeal upheld an appeal against the decision against the council and dismissed an appeal oft the decision against the RTA but increased the contributory negligence from 25% to 50%.

The RTA appealed to the High Court of Australia. Dederer cross appealed against the increase in contributory negligence.

The High Court upheld the RTA’s appeal and dismissed the cross appeal. The court held that the duty of care to exercise reasonable care does not impose an obligation to prevent potentially harmful conduct. The court found that the RTA’s duty was to ensure that the road is safe for users taking reasonable care for their own safety. The RTA was held to have reasonably responded to the risk by erecting “no diving” signs. The court found that erecting fences would not necessarily stop people from diving or jumping from bridges.

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LAW FIRM, Practice and Procedure

Shannon v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2014] FCAFC 108

Shannon v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2014] FCAFC 108 (29 August 2014)

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Discrimination Law, Elder Law, LAW FIRM

Anti-Discrimination Regulation 2014

ON 29 AUGUST 2014, the NSW Government made the Anti-Discrimination Regulation 2014. The regulation among other things amends the Anti-Discrimination Regulation 2009 to allow registered clubs to lawfully provide to a member a concession (such as reduced membership fees), by reason of their age.

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Judges, LAW FIRM

Appointment of Julia Baly SC as District Court Judge

The NSW Attorney General has announced the appointment of Crown Prosecutor Julia Baly SC as a judge of the District Court of NSW.

Ms Baly holds a Bachelor of Laws, Masters of Public International Law and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney. She was admitted as a solicitor in 1987 and a barrister in 1995.

Ms Baly commenced her legal career at the Aboriginal Legal Service and was an instructing solicitor in the 1988 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. In the 1990s she acted as a criminal defence counsel in Sydney as well as taking on international criminal trials in Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Liberia and Cambodia.

Since 2002, Ms Baly has been a Crown Prosecutor with the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions and in recent times, based in Lismore, has been the Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor for the whole of country NSW.

Ms Baly will be sworn in as District Court Judge on 1 September 2014.

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Sydney, Australia

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Criminal Law, LAW FIRM, Law reform

Review of Graffiti Control Act 2008

The NSW Attorney General has announced a statutory review of the Graffiti Control Act 2008 (NSW) by the Department of Justice later in the year.

The review is to specifically look at what measures can be introduced to crack down on illegal commercial bill posters.

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

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