Duty of Care, LAW FIRM, Motor Accidents, Negligence

Bourhill v Young [1942] UKHL 5

ON 5 AUGUST 1942, the House of Lords delivered Bourhill v Young [1942] UKHL 5 (5 August 1942).

http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1942/5.html

A car and motorcycle collided near a tram causing fatal injuries to the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was travelling at excessive speed and was at fault. A passenger on the tram heard the sound of the collision but saw nothing. She was startled by the noise of the collision, suffering nervous shock, though she was not in immediate physical injury herself. She observed blood on the roadway after the motorcyclists body had been removed. She later suffered a miscarriage. She claimed damages including losses to her business arising from the nervous shock.

The House of Lords held that the motorcyclist was not guilty of negligence as he did not owe a duty of care to the tram passenger as he could not have reasonably foreseen the likelihood that anyone placed as her (in a position of apparent safety) could have been affected in such a manner.

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Constitutional law, LAW FIRM, Taxation

South Australia v Commonwealth (“First Uniform Tax case”) [1942] HCA 14

ON 23 JULY 1942, the High Court of Australia delivered South Australia v Commonwealth (“First Uniform Tax case”) [1942] HCA 14; (1942) 65 CLR 373 (23 July 1942).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1942/14.html

The Commonwealth passed four Acts

  • Income Tax Act 1942, which imposed income tax as high as 90 percent, leaving no room for additional state income tax.
  • States Grants Act 1942, allowing grants to states who did not impose income tax.
  • Section 221 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1942, requiring Commonwealth taxes to be paid before state taxes.
  • the Income Tax (Wartime Arrangements) Act 1942, requiring the states to transfer to the Commonwealth all tax collection officers, offices, equipment and records.

The effect of the four acts was to put an end to the end of state income taxes.

The Act was challenged in the High Court by South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. The Court dismissed the actions, holding that the four pieces of legislation were valid.

The solicitor for the Commonwealth was Fred Whitlam, the father of the Honourable Edward Gough Whitlam AC QC, Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 to 1975.

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Sydney, Australia

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LAW FIRM, Succession

Bull v Fulton [1942] HCA 13

ON 20 JULY 1942, the High Court of Australia delivered Bull v Fulton [1942] HCA 13; (1942) 66 CLR 295 (20 July 1942).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/66clr295.html

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Sydney, Australia

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LAW FIRM, Succession

Timbury v Coffee [1941] HCA 22

ON 28 July 1941, the High Court of Australia delivered Timbury v Coffee [1941] HCA 22; (1941) 66 CLR 277 (28 July 1941).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/66clr277.html

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Sydney, Australia

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Contract, Equity, LAW FIRM

Yerkey v Jones [1939] HCA 3

ON 6 MARCH 1939, the High Court of Australia delivered Yerkey v Jones [1939] HCA 3; (1939) 63 CLR 649 (6 March 1939).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1939/3.html

Yerkey v Jones provides that: (1) a wife may have a guarantee set aside if the consent was obtained by undue influence, unless she received independent advice (at 649, per Dixon J); and (2) a wife has a prima facie right to have a guarantee set aside if she failed to understand the effect of the guarantee or its significance, unless steps were taken by the lender to inform the wife of such matters (at 683, per Dixon J).

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Sydney, Australia

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Commercial Law, Contract, LAW FIRM

Luna Park (NSW) Ltd v Tramways Advertising Pty Ltd [1938] HCA 66

ON 23 DECEMBER 1938, the High Court of Australia delivered Luna Park (NSW) Ltd v Tramways Advertising Pty Ltd [1938] HCA 66; (1938) 61 CLR 286 (23 December 1938).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1938/66.html

Only nominal damages should be awarded when a breach of contract causes no identifiable loss. The right to nominal damages follows as “a matter of course”.

A term of a contract will be regarded as a condition if it goes to the very substance of the contract.

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Sydney, Australia

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LAW FIRM, Legislation

Mosman Anzac Memorial Hall Act 1938 (NSW)

ON 14 OCTOBER 1938, the NSW Mosman Anzac Memorial Hall Act 1938 was enacted.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/mamha1938237/

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Civil procedure, Evidence, Family Law, LAW FIRM

Briginshaw v Briginshaw [1938] HCA 34

ON 30 JUNE 1938, the High Court of Australia delivered Briginshaw v Briginshaw [1938] HCA 34; (1938) 60 CLR 336 (30 June 1938).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1938/34.html

Where serious or grave allegations are made in a civil case, the court must, when making findings of fact, apply the civil standard of proof but, depending on the nature of the issue, give serious consideration as to whether or not it has reached the necessary degree of reasonable satisfaction or persuasion that the alleged facts are more likely than not to exist.

Per Dixon J at 362:

“… [R]easonable satisfaction is not a state of mind that is attained or established independently of the nature and consequence of the fact or facts to be proved. The seriousness of an allegation made, the inherent unlikelihood of an occurrence of a given description, or the gravity of the consequences flowing from a particular finding are considerations which must affect the answer to the question whether the issue has been proved to the reasonable satisfaction of the tribunal. In such matters ‘reasonable satisfaction’ should not be produced by inexact proofs, indefinite testimony, or indirect inferences. Everyone must feel that, when, for instance, the issue is on which of two dates an admitted occurrence took place, a satisfactory conclusion may be reached on materials of a kind that would not satisfy any sound and prudent judgment if the question was whether some act had been done involving grave moral delinquency. …”

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Sydney, Australia

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LAW FIRM, Succession

Birmingham v Renfrew [1937] HCA 52

ON 2 SEPTEMBER 1937, the High Court of Australia delivered Birmingham v Renfrew [1937] HCA 52; (1937) 57 CLR 666 (2 September 1937).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/57clr666.html

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Sydney, Australia

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Copyright, LAW FIRM, Property Law, Uncategorized

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.

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Sydney, Australia

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Mosman Solicitor & Notary