Cases and authorities

CRIMINAL LAW - appeals - Crown appeal against sentence - whether sentence manifestly lenient - dangerous driving causing death - dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm - driving whilst intoxicated - whether there was an abandonment of responsibility on the part of the offender - whether sentence reflected moral culpability and seriousness of the offence - whether sentence of periodic detention properly available - error of law - whether court should intervene.

Criminal law - appeal aganst conviction and severity of sentence - maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm - whether conviction unreasonable having regard ot the evidence - whether witness "coached".

INFERIOR COURTS - Apprehended violence order made in Local Court - Appeal to District Court by defendant - Appeal upheld - Apprehended violence order quashed - Application for prerogative relief in respect of District Court order - Application for leave to appeal from District Court order - Whether either form of relief available D

DAMAGES - Compensation to Relatives Act 1897 - high income medical practitioner - damages recoverable by wife and two children

Negligence - duty of care - occupier's liability - respondent plumber injured through electric shock when aluminium ladder came into contact with overhead electrified power lines - respondent an employee of subcontractor working under supervision of construction manager - railway staff had no role in assigning or overseeing tasks at work site - construction manager able to arrange line closure if necessary - whether SRA had non-delegable duty stemming from control of station - challenges to trial judge's findings - scope of SRA's duty - Papatonakis v Australian Telecommunications Commission (1985) 156 CLR 7 - no breach of any duty of care. (D)

Costs

Medical Tribunal determination - removal from Register of Medical Practitioners - unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct of medical practitioner - procedural fairness.

PROCEDURE - Contempt, attachment and sequestration - punishment for contempt consisting of failure to comply with court orders - contempt classified as wilful but without specific intent to defy the authority of the court - one order capable of being complied with now substantially satisfied - apology by each contemnor - fine not appropriate as limited funds better deployed elsewhere - imprisonment not appropriate as contemnors should be free to devote efforts to substantive proceedings - punishment by direction to enter into good behaviour bond sufficiently indicate seriousness of conduct and community disapproval - contemnors also ordered to pay costs on indemnity basis

PROCEDURE - interest after judgment - whether debt merged in judgment - whether interests of justice require that interest continue at higher contracted rate - order for such interest as necessary to ensure contracted interest continues

Imputations - capacity - form - ridicule

Action on foreign currency - No question of principle

Appeal against conviction - tendency evidence - requirement to give notice - Reg 6, Evidence Regulations 1995 - nature of requirement - whether reference to extrinsic documents permissible

Criminal Law - Evidence - Confession and Admisions - Crimes Act s 424A - reasonable excuse for failure to record - Practice and Procedure - Search and Seizure of Goods - whether search lawful - Summing Up - Failure to give directions on lies - Zoneff v the Queen (2000) 200 CLR 234 - Appeal at New Trial - Finding of fact by trial judge - scope of appeal - Criminal Appeal Rules, rule 4 - relevance of affidavit by trial counsel

EQUITY - Estoppel - Maxims - "He who seeks equity must do equity" - Daughter benefit of trust of property subject to life interest in mother - Rift between mother and daughter - Whether daughter as condition of relief should make some provision in mother's favour. D.

CONSUMER CREDIT [55]- Credit reports- Corporation complaining of allegedly false report- Injunction available.

CRIMINAL LAW - ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE - record of interview - admissibility of record of interview considered on a voir dire examination - where record of interview considered to have little probative value - weight to be given to record of interview matter for jury

Consultancy Agreement drawn up between plaintiff and defendants -construction of the provision of a particular clause in Agreement - entitlements in accordance with that clause.

Family provision - Claim by adult son - Applicant must place before the Court as fully and as frankly as possible details of his financial and material circumstances - Whether applicant has been left without adequate provision for his proper maintenance - Applicant must establish his own case on its own merits - Remedy of his financial and material circumstances reposes solely with applicant

COSTS - Proceedings against several defendants - Proceedings dismissed at first instance - Appeal - Appeal upheld in respect of only one defendant - Appellant seeks "Bullock order" against unsuccessful defendant in respect of costs of successful defendants of appeal and trial at first instance. - D

Costs

Practice and procedure - Confidentiality Orders - Principles - Public interest in open justice - Public interest in knowing the essential reasons for a court decision - Interest of litigants in knowing the essential reasons for a court's decision - Extent to which materials the subject of claimed confidentiality were the subject of open submissions and have now passed into the public arena - Extent to which the claimed confidential information was referred to in the open section of the judgment - Not possible for either the parties or the public to fully understand the courts reasons for decision on the security for costs motion without reference to the confidential sections of the judgment - Relevance of recent development where Idoport Pty Limited has failed to comply with the order of the court requiring payment of security for costs leading to MLC proceedings now being stayed - Principle of open justice presently requires that the existing confidentiality regime requires to be lifted.

CRIMINAL LAW - sentencing - murder - victim a member of Parliament - killed for political reasons - protection of persons in public life - application of s 61(1) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999

PROCEDURE [573] - Costs - Departing from the general rule - Powers of court - Relevant principle - Whether claims distinct.

Practice and procedure - Just, quick and cheap overriding purpose rule - Case management procedures - Public interest in the proper allocation of scarce resources as between courts - Extended litigation leading to one of three Commercial List Judges being unavailable to hear other cases for several years - Multiple experts - Procedure for Court appointed examiner to take cross-examination evidence from selected experts

CONTRACT - LEASE - rent review clause - base rent - valuer to assume a hypothetical market - whether valuer entitled to have regard to real market - whether valuer could conclude there was no market - approach to be taken in construction of rent review clause - CONTRACT - LEASE - claim before referee - whether party entitled to withdraw claim - Anshun estoppel - no final orders - CONTRACT - LEASE - repair covenant - corroded window frames - referee's report - whether reasonably minded owner would repair or replace - exclusion of replacement as an option by referee - whether trial judge correct to exclude aspects of referee's report. - EVIDENCE - credit - preference of referee - expert evidence - D

TORT - Negligence - breach - causation - damages - truck driver injured when truck turned over while transporting coal - standard of duty owed by employer.

CORPORATIONS - voluntary administration - whether application to challenge validity of deed of company arrangement or to terminate it requires leave of Court - whether chairman of creditors' meeting properly rejected creditors' claim for voting purposes, and whether chairman should have adjourned meeting - whether chairman correctly exercised his casting vote - whether deed providing for premium dividend to creditors from proceeds of litigation, if successful, was properly a 'deed of company arrangement' - whether deed should be terminated for non-disclosure or unfair prejudice

Set aside default judgment - stay of writ of possession

Practice & procedure - application to strike out - abuse of process - re-litigation of issues by unsuccessful litigant in prior proceedings - no issue estoppel - principles upon which discretion exercised.

Registration of foreign judgment - Cyprus - Review of Registrar's decision

DEFAMATION - Identification - Televised image of plaintiff - Whether such as reasonably to lead persons acquainted with plaintiff to believe it was of the plaintiff - Jury answers "No" - Leave to appeal sought - Whether question appropriate - Whether direction confusing. D.

TORT - MASTER AND SERVANT - FACTORY - SKYLARKING BY STAFF - ISSUES OF FACT - NO SPECIFIC MATTER OF PRINCIPLE

Sentence for conviction of murder

CONTRACTS - breach - specific performance - contract for the marketing of units - marketing company agreed to fixed price for units and to buy any units it could not sell - developer refused to complete contracts with purchasers found by agents employed by marketing company - whether specific performance should be ordered - EQUITY - specific performance - marketing company employed network of agents and relied on business reputation - whether damages sufficient remedy

CONTRACT - assessment of damages - tenants' breach of contract to renew lease - loss of rent - damage to demised premises would have caused rent to abate if tenant had performed the contract by renewing the lease - damages for loss of rent reduced by amount corresponding to abatement - mitigation of loss - landlord failed to find tenant for three year duration of renewed term - whether landlord had mitigated loss

CRIMINAL LAW - Murder - Appeal against conviction - Whether verdict unreasonable - Appeal against sentence - Life sentence - Whether aggravating feature that appellant knew the victim's death would deprive five children of their mother. D.

NEGLIGENCE - intoxicated passenger on railway platform - apparently leaving platform - train allowed to depart - passenger came in contact with train and was injured - whether breach by railway of duty of care owed to passenger - on facts, no breach. ND

Evidence Act (1995) - Evidence - Admissibility - Opinion evidence - Expert opinion - Principles - Specialised knowledge - By directing attention to whether an opinion is wholly or substantially based on specialised knowledge based on training, study or experience, section 79 requires that the opinion be presented in a form which makes it possible to answer that question - Transparency of reasoning process - Opinion proffered must be shown to be substantially based on expertise of witness and witness must identify it - Witness must explain how the knowledge on which the witness is an expert applies to the facts assumed or observations made so as to produce the opinion propounded - necessity for expert to articulate principal tenets that need to be understood to follow the methods used by him and the reasons which he suggests point to a particular conclusion - Necessity for experts evidence to furnish trial judge with the necessary scientific criteria for testing the accuracy of conclusions - Trial judge must be placed in a position where he/she enabled to form their own independent judgment by applying the criteria furnished to the facts proved.

Extension of time to commence proceedings - Sections 60G and 60I Limitation Act - Voyager/Melbourne collision

Extension of time to commence proceedings - Section 60G and 60I Limitation Act - Voyager/Melbourne collision

Family Provision. Application by a daughter who had been estranged from her father for most of her life. Attempted re-establishment of contact by he daughter which was rebuffed by the deceased. Held a small legacy was appropriate.

Liquor Act - appeal - errors of fact or law - "needs of the public in the neighbourhood" - necessity to consider present and proposed customers - transient public - decision of Licensing Court erroneous in law - part of consideration of remitter.

CONTRACTS [77] - General contractual principles - Statute of Frauds, s 4 - Non compliance with Statute - Doctrine of part performance - Acts constituting past performance - Payment of promised price, entry into receipt of rents of rented premises and assumption of liabilities relating to subject property - FAMILY LAW AND CHILD WELFARE [105] - De facto relationships - Legislation - New South Wales - Property (Relationships) Act 1984 - Adjustment of property interests - Discretion - Principles on which exercised - Time at which value of assets should be assessed

Criminal law - sentence - manslaughter - plea of guilty - excessive response to irrationally perceived threat of theft - no intent to cause other than transient injury - subjective circumstances.

Application to add a third defendant and amend Statement of Claim - delay and explanation for delay.

Criminal Law - Sentence for conviction of murder and manslaughter

Appeal from Magistrate - error of law - Local Court (Civil Claims) Act 1970 s 69