Cases and authorities

CORPORATIONS - winding up - appeal against liquidator's decision to reject proof of debt for unpaid wages - appeal upheld - CONTRACT - agreement as to wages

Whether Lease is void for uncertainty - Whether defendant has an equitable interest in land subject of agreement to reconveyance when subdivision granted.

Practice - Amendment of Statement of Claim - no point of principle

CORPORATIONS LAW - company in liquidation - appeal by receiver - leave to proceed refused - Corporations Law s471B, s420A - Supreme Court Act 1970, s101(2)(c)

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW - tension between mining planning and environmental legislation - immunity from environmental legislation - Mining Act 1973, s 116 - Mining Act 1992, ss 65, 74, cls 4, 8 of Schedule 6 - ENVIRONMENTAL LAW - Development Consent - Interpretation of Planning Conditions - Finality - ENVIRONMENTAL LAW - Development Consent Conditions - Remedy for Breach - no present and continuing breach - Environmental Offences and Penalties Act 1989, s 25 - Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, s 124 - D

Costs - what is the basis on which the legal services provided by a solicitor employed by a corporation should be assessed - whether work done by practitioner employed by corporation should be assessed on same basis as that of an independent solicitor - principle of indemnity - judicial review at interlocutory stage.

PROPERTY - Real property - Caveat - Application to extend - Need for evidence of elements of serious question.

Family Provision - Claim by widow - Marriage obtained for almost 40 years - Sole asset in estate is matrimonial home of Plaintiff and testator - Will gives entire estate to ex-nuptial child of testator - Without an order for provision Plaintiff will be left homeless and virtually destitute - Contributions made by Plaintiff to acquisition and improvement of matrimonial home - No competing claims - Conduct disentitling - Whether established - Effect upon Plaintiff's claim of any such conduct.

Criminal Law and Procedure - Sentence - Drug Trafficking - No Particular Point of Principle

Criminal Law and Procedure - Robbery in Company - Planned Crime - Jewellery Store - Considerable Loot Unrecovered - High Degree of Seriousness

APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL - Appeal - From District Court - As of right - When lies - Final judgment - Amount or value of matter at issue - Practice - Affidavit to be filed - Contents - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - Appeal to Court of Appeal - Where restricted to a specified amount or value - Affidavit to be filed - Contents D

Application for leave to appeal from interlocutory orders

CORPORATIONS — Application to set aside a statutory demand — Compliance with s459G of the Corporations Law — Unintended omissions from affidavit supporting application to set aside but no discrepancy between affidavit filed and affidavit served — Affidavit in support of application conforms to s459G(3) — Genuine dispute established.

TRUSTS - Resulting trusts - Property purchased as joint tenants, when parties intended to marry - Whether held equally, or in proportion to contributions.

Criminal law and procedure - Killing in course of robbery - Joint enterprise by two offenders - Crown acceptance of plea of guilty by one of them to robbery - Separate trial of other - Directions to jury if unsatisfied which was actual assailant - Verdict of manslaughter on indictment for murder - Test of liability for manslaughter by participant in extended joint criminal enterprise - Leave to cross examine unfavourable Crown witness - Directions concerning lies - Warning concerning evidence of co-offender

Motor vehicle accident - Apprehension of bias - Credibility

Acquisition and resumption of property - market value of land - two formulae applied - statutory restrictions on use or sale of land - whether reference to comparable market transactions necessary - s57 Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 - definition of "special value" - financial advantage - adequate reasons for valuation. ND

EQUITY - fiduciary obligations - funds given by clients to accountant A for investment lodged in account operated by other accountants B and used by a company controlled by accountants B to lend or for its own developments - funds collected by accountant A not separately identified in books of accountants B - as between clients and accountant A moneys held on trust - as between accountant A and accountant B and company relationship debtor and creditor - losses or payments made by company on matters in which accountant A interested charged against the general account to detriment of clients of accountant A - whether breach of trust - whether participation in breach by accountant B and company - whether claim for return of moneys available or order for taking of accounts - question of parties necessary on the account EQUITY - remedy for knowing assistance or participation in breach of trust - where trust had many beneficiaries and trustee bankrupt - third party liable to account to trustee in bankruptcy for trust funds lost in breach - individual beneficiaries not entitled to equitable compensation from third party as their interest in debut due not ascertained

CONTRACT - Head contract for supply and maintenance of computing system - Sub-contract for services for that system - Contract between customer and sub-contractor dealing with intellectual property - Head contractor goes into administration - Sub-contract terminated - Customer enters into new head contract - Questions as to obligations of sub-contractor and rights to intellectual property, in new circumstances.

Wills - Construction - Right of Residence - Held, right of residence lost by failure to continue to reside in subject property and also by failure to pay maintenance expenses of the subject property - Held Further, that the beneficiary had not "married" within the meaning of the will notwithstanding her entry into a de facto relationship

PROCEDURE - Courts & Judges - Appeal from Administrative Decisions Tribunal Appeal Panel - Assignment of Business - Court of Appeal or Administrative Law List

CRIMINAL LAW - dangerous driving causing death - summing up - need for trial judge to specify the matters relied on as constituting dangerous driving - CRIMINAL LAW - sentencing - dangerous driving causing death

Contract - construction - indemnity against "claim" for commission by agent - in circumstances reference is to a good claim - costs of defending an unsuccessful claim not included. ND

PERSONAL INJURY - motor vehicle accident - appellant/plaintiff riding bicycle - recovered judgment for damages at $5,210.20 - appeal as to assessment of damages and costs - EVIDENCE - credibility and weight - issue as to whether appellant/plaintiff exaggerated symptoms - appellant/plaintiff testimony found unsatisfactory and without credit - inconsistencies in evidence - effect of appellant's lack of credibility on evidence of other witnesses - COSTS - depriving a successful party of costs - exercise of discretion to order successful party to pay unsuccessful party's costs - Pt 39A r 12 District Court Rules - whether appellant/plaintiff's action amounted to misconduct - offer of compromise by respondent/defendant less than judgment - Pt 39A r 25(6) District Court Rules - discussion of jurisdiction and discretion to award costs against a successful party. D

Workers Compensation - Costs - s110 Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 - interest payable on costs not quantified at time order is made - date from which costs order operates - court's discretion to award interest.

CRIMINAL LAW - trial by judge alone - murder - evidence of principal Crown witnesses unreliable - verdict of not guilty at close of Crown case

Legislative Repeal and Amendment - The effect of the repeal of an amending Act on the Act which it amended, where the amended Act is neither repealed nor altered: held the repeal of the amending Act, especially by a Revision Act does not, in itself, amend the principal Act to the extent of the amendments. - Administrative Law - Whether decision purportedly made under a statutory provision should be set aside on the basis that it was made for an ulterior purpose and was uncertain: held that it should be - Contracts - An offer of renewal of a contract must be certain: held there was a lack of certainty in the offer

Application to re-open refused

FAMILY LAW AND CHILD WELFARE - Parens patriae jurisdiction of Supreme Court - Proceedings in Children's Court - Interim order made by Children's Court - Interference by Supreme Court - Relevant principles.

Set aside default judgment

COSTS - assessment - litigant in person not entitled to professional costs - exception if litigant is a solicitor

RESTITUTION - proceeds of theft - Bank sued clerk to recover moneys stolen by her from the safe and recovered judgment - Bank sued her de facto and recovered amounts obtained by him from her with knowledge that money was stolen and spent for his own purposes - expenditure by him included repayments to financier on account of a loan to him secured by mortgage over his parents' house - Bank sued parents for restitution for advantage derived by them from reduction of mortgage and relied on Barnes v. Addy and on subrogation - claim failed as parents were not dishonest accessories or recipients - financier was not in any sense their agent to receive funds.

Extension of time - s 151D Workers Compensation Act - Q-Fever

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW - INJUNCTIONS - LANDLORD & TENANT - Unlawful use of land by tenant - Apparent expiry of development consent - Knowledge of Council - Council takes no action other than requiring development application - Landlord forcibly retakes possession - Whether injunction should be granted to tenant - Conditions of injunction.