Category Archives: Property Law

Gove Land Rights Case


ON THIS DAY in 1971, Blackburn J of the Nothern Territory Supreme Court delivered Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd (1971) 17 FLR 141.

In an attempt to protect their sacred sites, the Yolngu people challenged the validity of leases granted by the Commonwealth to a mining company. The people alleged that they held a common law right of ownership of the land under the doctrine of native title. Under the doctrine, native title is deemed to have existed at the time of settlement and continued after settlement.

The claim was unsuccessful. Blackburn J held that the doctrine of native title did not form part of the law of Australia as there had been peaceful settlement of unoccupied land (the fiction of terra nullius).

The Gove Land rights case was overturned by the Mabo case in 1992.

 

Pettit v Pettit [1970] AC 777

ON THIS DAY in 1969, the House of Lords delivered Pettit v Pettit [1970] AC 777.

A husband claimed a beneficial interest in a property solely owned by his wife.  The basis of the claim was that he had made improvements to the property during the course of the marriage.

The husbands claim was unsuccessful on the facts. However, modern principles of implied trust can be traced back to this case and the subsequent Gissing v Gissing [1971] AC 886.

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

1300 00 2088

Norman v Federal Commissioner of Taxation [1963] HCA 21

ON 25 JULY 1963, the High Court of Australia delivered Norman v Federal Commissioner of Taxation [1963] HCA 21; (1963) 109 CLR 9 (25 July 1963).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1963/21.html

A husband had voluntarily assigned to his wife the right to company dividends and interest on a debt payable at will. The court held that the dividends and interest were future property not capable of being assigned for consideration and were therefore to be assessed as taxable income of the husband.

Assignment is “the immediate transfer of an existing proprietary right, vested or contingent, from the assignor to the assignee” per Windeyer J at 26.

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

1300 00 2088

Sydney Solicitors

ON 25 NOVEMBER 1946, the High Court of Australia delivered Penfolds Wines Pty Ltd v Elliott [1946] HCA 46; (1946) 74 CLR 204 (25 November 1946)

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1946/46.html

Mr Elliott used of Penfolds’ empty wine bottles to carry other wine.

Dixon J (at 229) said:

“But nothing in the course pursued by the respondent in receiving and filling bottles and returning them could possibly amount to the tort of conversion. The essence of conversion is a dealing with a chattel in a manner repugnant to the immediate right of possession of the person who has the property or special property in the chattel. It may take the form of a disposal of the goods by way of sale, or pledge or other intended transfer of an interest followed by delivery, of the destruction or change of the nature or character of the thing, as for example, pouring water into wine or cutting the seals from a deed, or of an appropriation evidenced by refusal to deliver or other denial of title. But damage to the chattel is not conversion, nor is use, nor is a transfer of possession otherwise than for the purpose of affecting the immediate right to possession, nor is it always conversion to lose the goods beyond hope of recovery. An intent to do that which would deprive “the true owner” of his immediate right to possession or impair it may be said to form the essential ground of the tort.”

The tort of conversion generally concerns a defendant’s intentional dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with or repugnant to the plaintiff’s ownership of the goods: per Latham CJ at 217 – 221, Dixon J (Starke J agreeing) at 228 – 230, McTiernan J at 234 – 235 and Williams J at 239 – 244.

An act repugnant or inconsistent to the terms of the bailment, or consistent only to treat the goods as his or her own, terminates the bailment resulting in possession revesting to the owner who can sue the bailee in trover: per Latham CJ at pp 214 and 217-8, Dixon J at p 227, McTiernan J at p 233 and Williams J at pp 241-2.

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

1300 00 2088

Penfolds Wines Pty Ltd v Elliott [1946] HCA 46

ON 25 NOVEMBER 1946, the High Court of Australia delivered Penfolds Wines Pty Ltd v Elliott [1946] HCA 46; (1946) 74 CLR 204 (25 November 1946)

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1946/46.html

Mr Elliott used of Penfolds’ empty wine bottles to carry other wine.

Dixon J (at 229) said:

“But nothing in the course pursued by the respondent in receiving and filling bottles and returning them could possibly amount to the tort of conversion. The essence of conversion is a dealing with a chattel in a manner repugnant to the immediate right of possession of the person who has the property or special property in the chattel. It may take the form of a disposal of the goods by way of sale, or pledge or other intended transfer of an interest followed by delivery, of the destruction or change of the nature or character of the thing, as for example, pouring water into wine or cutting the seals from a deed, or of an appropriation evidenced by refusal to deliver or other denial of title. But damage to the chattel is not conversion, nor is use, nor is a transfer of possession otherwise than for the purpose of affecting the immediate right to possession, nor is it always conversion to lose the goods beyond hope of recovery. An intent to do that which would deprive “the true owner” of his immediate right to possession or impair it may be said to form the essential ground of the tort.”

The tort of conversion generally concerns a defendant’s intentional dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with or repugnant to the plaintiff’s ownership of the goods: per Latham CJ at 217 – 221, Dixon J (Starke J agreeing) at 228 – 230, McTiernan J at 234 – 235 and Williams J at 239 – 244.

An act repugnant or inconsistent to the terms of the bailment, or consistent only to treat the goods as his or her own, terminates the bailment resulting in possession revesting to the owner who can sue the bailee in trover: per Latham CJ at pp 214 and 217-8, Dixon J at p 227, McTiernan J at p 233 and Williams J at pp 241-2.

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

1300 00 2088

Victoria Park Racing & Recreation Grounds Co Ltd v Taylor [1937] HCA 45

ON 26 AUGUST 1937, the High Court of Australia delivered Victoria Park Racing & Recreation Grounds Co Ltd v Taylor [1937] HCA 45; (1937) 58 CLR 479 (26 August 1937).

There is no general right of privacy at common law.

There is no property in a spectacle.

Copyright does not provide an exclusive right to state or to describe particular facts.

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

1300 00 2088

Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW)

ON 1 JULY 1920, the NSW Conveyancing Act 1919 commenced.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ca1919141/

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

1300 00 2088

Cooper v Stuart [1889] UKPC 1

ON 3 APRIL 1889, the Privy Council delivered Cooper v Stuart [1889] UKPC 1 (03 April 1889).

The Privy Council said that New South Wales was “a tract of territory, practically unoccupied, without settled inhabitants or settled land, at the time when it was peacefully annexed to the British dominions” rather than “a Colony acquired by conquest or cession, in which there is an established system of law”.

Lawyers 1300 00 2088

1858 | Torrens Title introduced

ON THIS DAY in 1858, Torrens Title was introduced under the South Australian Real Property Act 1858.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/sa/num_act/rpa16o22v1858255

 

Smithers v Hughes [1834] NSWSupC 38

ON 4 APRIL 1834, the Supreme Court of NSW delivered Smithers v Hughes [1834] NSWSupC 38 (4 April 1834).
The court considered a transaction in which a quantity of beer formed part of the consideration to purchase two farms.  The case raises issues regarding the enforceability of agreements regarding the sale of land that are not reduced to writing as is required under the Statute of Frauds.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWSupC/1834/38.html

Lawyers

Sydney, Australia

1300 00 2088