ON 8 JULY 1975, the Commonwealth Privy Council (Appeals from the High Court) Act 1975 commenced, abolishing appeals from the High Court of Australia to the Privy Council.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/pcfthca1975417/
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ON 1 JULY 1914, the House of Lords delivered Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage & Motor Co Ltd [1915] AC 79; [1914] UKHL 1 (1 July 1914).
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1914/1.html
Liquidated sum clauses are valid and enforceable under contract law; penalty clauses are not. A liquidated sum is a genuine estimate of the losses from a breach; a penalty frightens or deters a party from breach.
A court will construe a clause to be a penalty if:
A court will presume a clause to be a penalty if it is for a single lump sum payable in the occurrence of one or multiple events, some of which may only warrant minimal damages.
A court will presume a clause to be liquidated if the consequences of a breach are hard or impossible to estimate as it is probable that the pre-estimated damage was the true bargain between the parties.
Sydney, Australia
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ON 29 JUNE 1865, the UK Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 was enacted.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/28-29/63/contents
Click to access ukpga_18650063_en.pdf
The Act was introduced to remove doubts as to the validity of laws made in the British colonies. The Act provided that colonial legislatures were deemed to have full power to make laws in respect of their colonies, provided they are made in the correct manner and form and not repugnant to any laws of the United Kingdom that extended to the colony.
Sydney, Australia
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ON 19 JUNE 1843, the House of Lords delivered M’Naughten’s case.
The accused was found not guilty on the grounds of insanity. The decision set out the common law principles to be applied when making a defence of insanity.
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1843/J16.html
Sydney, Australia
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ON 15 JUNE 1215, King James executed the Magna Carta at Runnymede. King James agreed to this document which limited the power of the Crown and granted the barons and citizens certain individual rights, freedoms, liberties and protections. The document laid the constitutional foundations for government under the rule of law.
http://bailii.austlii.edu.au/uk/legis/num_act/1215/magna__carta.html
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ON 10 MAY 1951, the House of Lords delivered Bolton v Stone [1951] AC 850; [1951] 1 All ER 1078; [1951] UKHL 2 (10 May 1951).
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1951/2.html
Liability does not extend to damage caused by a certain act or omission unless the possibility of causing the damage was reasonably foreseeable at the time.
The damage is not reasonably foreseeable if the likelihood of it happening involves a risk so small that a reasonable person would feel justified in disregarding it.
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ON THIS DAY in 2013, the United Kingdom Parliament passed the Succession to the Crown Act 2013.
Males born into the Royal Family after 28 October 2011 will not take precedence over females in succession the throne. Royals will no longer lose their right to succession if they marry Catholics.
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/successiontothecrown.html
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ON THIS DAY in 2014, the UK Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 allowed same sex couples in England and Wales to marry.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/30/contents/enacted/data.htm
ON 19 OCTOBER 1989, the Guildford Four were released from prison after their conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/19/newsid_2490000/2490039.stm
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ON 8 DECEMBER 1975, the England and Wales Court of Appeal delivered Anton Piller KG v Manufacturing Processes Ltd & Ors [1975] EWCA Civ 12 (08 December 1975).
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1975/12.html
The Court of Appeal held that it had inherent jurisdiction to order defendants in most exceptional circumstances to “permit” the plaintiffs’ lawyers to enter the defendants’ premises to inspect and remove material. Such circumstances are (1) when the plaintiffs have a strong prima facie case of very serious actual or potential damage and (2) clear evidence of the defendants being in the possession of “vital material which they might destroy or dispose of to defeat the ends of justice before an application inter partes may be made”.
The Court of Appeal held that in very exceptional circumstances such an application may be made ex parte (in the absence of the defendants).
Sydney, Australia
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