Cases and authorities

CORPORATIONS LAW - agreement between company and its shareholder and two directors not to remove those directors except in certain circumstances- meetings - notice - meeting to remove directors - whether notice under Articles or s203D of Law - formal requirements of s203D not complied with - substantial prejudice that those directors proposed to be removed lost opportunity to put arguments against their removal - injunction to prevent removal of directors

CORPORATIONS [214]- Statutory demand- Problem as to construction of document- Company's construction arguable- On any view some moneys due- Statutory demand varied- Observations on undesirability of issuing demands on Christmas Eve- Corporations Law ss 459F, 459G. WORDS & PHRASES- "Consummation".

Application for approval of release pursuant to s.31 Family Provision Act 1982 - Whether prudent, fair and reasonable in all the circumstances in which independent legal advice given - Application for provision pursuant to s.7 Family Provision Act 1982 - De facto relationship for 21 years in which plaintiff in full time employment and with separate financial affairs.

CRIMINAL LAW - Adjournment - Undertaking as to costs - abuse of process of court - unfairness to accused in costs - stay until payment of costs of adjournment - Crown appeal

CORPORATIONS [219]- Winding up- Just and equitable ground- Complaint that directors failed to pursue legal action- Such allegations not precluded by ss 236 and 237 of Corporations Law

PROPERTY — Surviving spouse — Tenant in common or joint tenant in relation to shares in a home unit company — Effect of Will having regard to s26 of Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) — Construction of articles of association — Transmission articles — Held tenant in common.

Criminal Law - Sufficiency of Identification Evidence - Sentence - Armed robbery - two associated offences

Appeal against declining to find "special circumstances" and a manifestly excessive sentence.

Stated case - Crown appeal against inadequacy of sentence

armed robbery - guideline judgments

Possess Offensive Weapon - Sentence excessive - Totality

Criminal Law and Procedure - Entrapment - Police Informant - Conspiracy - Actual Importation Intercepted - Correctness of Interlocutory Ruling in District Court

Criminal Law - Sentencing - Minimum term not manifestly inadequate - deemed supply, husband principal offender

Costs - (ND)

Worker's Compensation - Interpretation of s 38 of the Workers Compensation Act - whether Regulation 73N of the Workers Compensation (General) Regulations affects the operation of the time period in s 38. (D)

ACTION TO SET ASIDE INTERLOCUTORY ORDER FOR FRAUD

Contract - agreement to grant a lease. Whether a concluded agreement reached before signature and exchange of formal lease document. - Agency - whether one defendant had authority to reach a concluded agreement rather than merely authority to negotiate. - Held no authority to reach concluded agreement.

Claim for contribution and indemnity - Question as to appropriate relief in the circumstances.

Twenty seven counts of sexual assault with child under sixteen years - plea of guilty - dealy between offence and sentence

Costs

PROPERTY — Case Stated under s101 of Justices Act 1902 (NSW) from order of Strata Titles Board allocating unit entitlements in waterfront block of units purportedly pursuant to s119 of Strata Titles Act 1973 (NSW) — Powers of Supreme Court limited to errors of laws — Scope of — Meaning of "having regard to respective values of the lots" in s119(2) — Relevance of principles of valuation from Spencer’s case and legitimacy of glossing these — No estoppel — Error of law in taking two valuations which Board considered unsatisfactory and taking mean — Other errors of law — Board expressing provisional view invites submissions but then disregards them on ground was functus — Breach of natural justice — Should application be dismissed where valuation evidence insufficient. - WORDS AND PHRASES — "respective values".

Practice and Procedure - Supreme Court Rules Amendment No. 337 - Detailed consideration of the Amendment against background of the Woolf Reforms in the United Kingdom - Overriding purpose to facilitate the just, quick and cheap resolution of the real issues in civil proceedings - Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to order use of technology - Inherent jurisdiction of Supreme Court to regulate its own proceedings so as to promote matters relating to convenience, expedition and efficiency in the administration of justice, includes directing or ordering the parties to use certain procedures, if the benefits derived from the use of such procedures justifies the costs and will ensure that the hearing proceeds quickly and efficiently - Order that proceedings be heard in the Technology Court

Bail - Review - Power of Supreme Court - Revocation of Bail granted by Judge of co-ordinate jurisdiction - Meaning of "may" In Bail Act - Discretion - Factors relevant to exercise of discretion

CORPORATIONS — Cost orders in favour of administrators against the party resisting dispensation being given for holding the second creditors meeting eight days too early when dispensation only sought under s447A and s1322 of Corporations Law after the prematurely called meeting — Could have been sought before under s439A(6) of Corporations Law but that not fatal to cost recovery — Rule that party seeking dispensation usually pays the costs not universal but depends on circumstances — relevant circumstances include that no correlative duty owed to the party opposing the dispensation — Such person neither a creditor nor invoking the public interest but one who sought to resist statutory demand against associated company — This strenuously fought conventional litigation in which costs should follow the event — Orders suspended because of pendency of High Court appeal awaiting judgment.

CRIMINAL LAW - Murder - appeal against severity of sentence - finding of facts on sentence - reasonable hypothesis - principle of totality

Admissibility of evidence - malice - servant/agent of defendant - T5464

Privilege - Legal professional - Identification of client - Illegal or improper purpose - Client does not give evidence - Onus and standard of proof.

Equity [223]- Trusts- Rights of beneficiary- Sub-trust- Beneficiary may have standing to challenge breach of sub-trust Torts [185]- Abuse of process- Scope of tort- What damage is too remote

PROCEDURE [109] - Supreme Court procedure - Practice under Supreme Court Rules - Setting down for trial - Expedition - Equity Division - Whether case should be fixed for trial before preparation complete or adjourned to permit mediation or negotiation.

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE - Appeal - Verdict - Whether unreasonable or cannot be supported - CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE - Sexual offences - Evidence - Complaints - Whether "fresh in the memory" of the complainant - Long delay - Admissibility.

EVIDENCE - later events closely related in time and place to alleged offence - not propensity evidence but admissible as going to appellant's state of mind.

Sentence appeal - Robbery whilst armed with an offesive weapon - Failure to give sufficient credit for plea and cooperation

WORKERS' COMPENSATION: Whether injury occurred during course of employment - Admissibility of applicant's medical history - Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) s 60 - Conclusion by trial judge that there was "no evidence" as to the normality of the applicant's left shoulder constituted an error of law being a failure to recognise the operation of s 60 (ND).

Sentence appeals - Maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent - Whether sufficient weight given to subjective circumstances - Common ground that sentences were in the uppper range for the offence.

Negligence - breaches of duty by defendant - whether any breach or breaches causative of harm.

Discovery of Documents. Application that documents not be disclosed to in-house counsel of the Plaintiff even subject to a confidentiality undertaking. Documents clearly relevant for the proper conduct of the proceedings. - Necessity for external lawyers to obtain instructions. - Need for procedural fairness. - In balancing the competing considerations access to in-house counsel granted to most of the documents subject to the giving of a confidentiality undertaking.

CONVEYANCING [202] - Torrens system - Instruments generally - Other cases - Court order for rectification of registered leases - Appropriate form of order - Instruments varying leases - Who should bear cost.

PROCEDURE [553] - Costs - General rule - Costs follow the event - Costs of whole action - Generally - Plaintiffs generally successful - Defendants win on some issues - Issues intertwined.

Negligence - misrepresentation - duty of care - foreseeability - solicitor seeking to identify defendant - supervening negligence by solicitor and counsel - expiration of limitation period - causation - deceptive and misleading conduct - s 52 Trade Practices Act 1974 - causation - ambiguous representation - causation - relevance of conduct of person affected by conduct

Equity [355]- Injunctions- Trespass to land- When granted.