Cases and authorities

Juries - Discharge of jury - Civil trial - Appeal against order discharging jury - Appellant, plaintiff at trial, sought damages for injuries claimed to have been suffered at the factory of the respondent employer, defendant at trial - During trial, counsel for plaintiff made reference to insurance and insurance companies - to medical report obtained by defendant and served, but not put into evidence and to suspicion regarding edited video tape tendered by defendant - During trial, television programme aired concerning unfavourable report on insurance companies - Trial judge granted application by defendant pursuant to s 79A of the District Court Act for trial to continue without jury and determined the trial by verdict for the defendant. - Whether material connecting link between plaintiff counsel's conduct and television programme - Whether exercise of discretion in discharging jury miscarried - Whether trial judge erred in failing to consider whether any prejudice to respondent actually occurred - Whether trial judge erred in failing to consider whether any prejudice could have been remedied by proper direction to jury

LOCAL GOVERNMENT - confidentiality of documents - disclosure to the public - meetings - conduct of meetings - expulsion of councillor from meetings of council and its committee - code of conduct - utility of appeal - D

Crown Appeal - Sentence - Aggravated Sexual Assault - Pearce v The Queen - Totality - Concurrent/Cumulative Sentences - General Deterrence - Pattern of Sentencing - Double Jeopardy - Special Circumstances

Contract - Formation of contract - Negotiations - Intention to contract

CORPORATIONS - liquidator's application for extension of three year limitation period to make application to attack unfair preferences - discretionary considerations

PROCEDURE [478]- Liberty to apply- Extent to which court may make further orders after formal entry of final order. PROCEDURE [750]- Declaratory order- Consequential relief.

Criminal law - indecent assault on child - Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) ss 61M(1), 66A - appellant convicted at trial - appeal against convictions and sentence - questions of fact - tender of fresh evidence

Crown appeal against inadequacy of sentence - Crown submissions to Sentencing Judge - Young offender - Suspended sentence - Court discretion to dismiss appeal - Matters taken into account - Least sentence properly imposed

Revocation of parole - review by Parole Board where a further offence is committed - whether Board's decision based on "false, misleading or irrelevant information"

Appeal against conviction - Supply prohibited drug - Directions as to meaning of "supply" - Miscarriage of justice - Failure to explain - Accused's case

LEGAL PRACTITIONERS - convictions of indecent assaults - obligation to inform - duty of candour - professional misconduct -"fit and proper person" - Legal Profession Act 1987, s48K(5) - removal from Roll of Legal Practitioners

RES JUDICATA

CRIMINAL LAW - sentencing - Crown appeal - armed robbery and demand money with menaces

MORTGAGES - mortgages and charges generally - construction of "all moneys" mortgage - MORTGAGES - variation of unregistered mortgage of Torrens title land by statutory form of variation - significance of lack of registration of both mortgage and variation

Personal injury - breach of contract - damages

Criminal Law & Procedure - Evidence - Refusal of witness to give evidence - Witness "unavailable to give evidence" for purposes s65(1) admission of hearsay - Discretion to exclude s137

Knowingly concerned in importation of heroin (252 kg) - directions as to lies adequate - directions as to knowledge adequate - no circumstantial evidence direction necessary . Sentencing - high criminality - parity.

Appeal - competency - r8 affidavit (ND)

VICARIOUS LIABILITY - master and servant relationship - non-delegable duty - DAMAGES - Workers Compensation Act - lump sum compensation - future weekly compensation

NEGLIGENCE - damages - various challenges - depended on facts - no question of principle. ND.

Personal Injury - circumstances of incident and causation - whether there was sufficient evidence to establish that the third defendant was guilty of negligence - appeal allowed in part.

NEGLIGENCE - damages - global award of economic loss as part of general damages - whether inadequate - no question of principle.

Review of Registrar's decision that motions for contempt proceed. These motions had lain dormant pending hearing of principal action in accordance with rulings of the Court in 1988. The principal proceedings had not come on for hearing, indeed the appellant said they had been settled. The Registrar held that the motions should now proceed. The appellant submitted that the Registrar had, in effect, overruled a three Judge court and that the motions should await the outcome of an equity suit to enforce the settlement. Held that the Registrar's decision should be upheld. Further that the motions should be heard by a single Judge in the Common Law Division. (ND)

Family Provision Act - adult brother of deceased - member of household - additional provision on condition - sister joint tenant with deceased - bring into hotchpot

ARBITRATION [49]- Security for costs- No power in arbitrator- Court may order security.

Criminal Law - Sentencing - Crown appeal - Knowingly take part in supply of prohibited drugs - Cannabis - Sentence manifestly inadequate - Parity - Definition of involvement of offender - Comparison of objective involvement in criminal enterprise - Comparison of subjective situation of offenders - Custodial sentence appropriate - Special circumstances

Insurance policy - plaintiff injured whilst driving after roadworks - cross claim - indemnity sought - nature and extent of policy coverage - whether material non disclosure in policy - policy not intended to cover the type of activities performed.

Possession of firearms - denied knowledge of same - alleged error in failure to exclude finding of gun holster - Rule 4 - affidavit from trial counsel - proviso considered - application for leave to appeal against severity of sentence - cumulative sentence

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE - SENTENCE - PROMISE OF FUTURE ASSISTANCE ATTRACTING DISCOUNT - FAILURE TO FULFIL PROMISE - RECTIFICATION TO ADJUST UNJUSTIFIED DISCOUNT

CRIMINAL LAW - sentencing - detaining for advantage and causing injury - Crimes Act 1900, s 90A - sentence manifestly inadequate - discretion to re-sentence - ND

Criminal Law - Sentencing - Crown appeal - Knowingly take part in supply of prohibited drugs - Cannabis - Sentence manifestly inadequate - Parity - Definition of involvement of offender - Comparison of objective involvement in criminal enterprise - Comparison of subjective situation of offenders - Custodial sentence appropriate - Special circumstances

Farm Debt Mediation Act - whether defendant principally engaged in farming operation

CONSTRUCTION - leave to appeal from award of Arbitrator - whether "global claim" can be made - breach of contractual term - variation of contract obligations whether the Arbitrator erred in law in awarding delay costs.

Personal Injury - plaintiff injured whilst at work - fall from beam - assessment of damages - non-economic loss - future economic loss - future superannuation loss - future out of pocket expenses - recoverable losses and expenses - past and future damages - Griffiths and Kerkemeyer.

Magistrates - Practice and Procedure - committal proceedings - cross-examination of witnesses - whether substantial reasons exist for witnesses to attend

preliminary discovery - internet publication - where publication takes place

PROCEDURE [105] - Supreme Court procedure - Practice under Supreme Court Rules - Directions - Power to make directions to facilitate just cheap and quick disposal of real issues between parties - Whether consolidated points of claim in identical form should be filed in two proceedings being heard together although one is a statutory appeal under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

Amendment of orders - costs (ND)

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE - CROWN APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE - SUPPLY OF VARIETY OF DRUGS - SIGNIFICANT WEAPONRY READY FOR USE IN RESPONDENT'S HOME FROM WHICH DRUG DEALING OPERATED - OFFENCES TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT ON FORM 1 - NECESSITY TO RECOGNIZE SERIOUSNESS OF WEAPON POSSESSION AS ADJUNCT TO ILLICIT BUSINESS - TOTAL CRIMINALITY REQUIRING REFLECTION

PRIVILEGE - common law public interest immunity - prison medical records held by government department - claim by Crime Commission under Criminal Assets Recovery Act 1990 - material sought to assist the defendant at trial - whether public interest in maintaining confidentiality of matters raised in course of psychiatric assessment of prisoner - whether material was obtained coercively - protection of governmental function - caution in discovering new categories of public interest immunity - professional confidential relationship privilege under the Evidence Act 1995. (ND)

EQUITY - order for accounts in common form - application to vary order to have accounts taken on wilful default basis - whether order a final order which can not be varied - whether grounds established for accounts on wilful default basis. D.

Costs - Assessment of bills of costs - Appeal from assessment - Nature of appeals - Test for granting leave to appeal - Meaning of "must", "may", "is to" - Effect of breach of s.177 of Legal Profession Act 1987 - Conditional costs agreements - Premium payable where cost contingent on successful outcome - Negligence alleged because of use of employed solicitor - Inadvertent mathematical errors in bill do not vitiate bill - Correction of inadvertent mathematical errors in bill - Application to reopen after judgment reserved - Procedure - Factors to consider

ADMIRALTY - claim for salvage - whether services were rendered as an employee or as a volunteer - application to amend statement of claim to add a further claim in restitution

Evidence - Re-examination

VENDOR and PURCHASER - matters arising between contract and completion - rescission - sale off-the-plan of home unit in proposed Strata Plan of building not yet built - Special Condition gave vendor right of rescission if Strata Plan not registered by 8 October - plan registered on 5 November - consideration of facts relating to causes of delay and grounds given by Council officers for not granting consent to Strata Plan - found that non-registration was caused by breaches of contract by vendor and purported rescission was not effective.

Appeal - severity - obtain credit whilst undischarged bankrupt - obtain credit by fraud - need to quantify adjustment required by s 16G of the Commonwealth Crimes Act - delay - Sentences manifestly excessive - parity

Tort - Negligence - District Court Appeal - Plaintiff alleged defendant's employee wrongly advised plaintiff to remove safety features from angle grinder - Injury resulting from acting upon alleged advice. - Evidence - Jones v Dunkel point - Plaintiff omitting to call all relevant witnesses - Whether trial judge should have inferred that untendered evidence would not have helped defendant's case - ND.

Negligence - Breach of Duty