Cases and authorities

MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT - who was the driver of the vehicle? - unsigned statement made to police by respondent admitting that he was the driver - prior inconsistent statement made by witness - evidence of rescuers - evidence corroborative of the appellant's - weight to be attached to evidence - inferences to be drawn from the evidence

Criminal Law & Procedure - Sentence - Evidence - Use of material by Judge inadmissible against the appellant but tendered on his behalf and of other material tendered in trial but not in sentence proceedings

NEGLIGENCE; DAMAGES; INADEQUACY OF VERDICT; OPERATION OF S79A OF MOTOR ACCIDENTS ACT 1988

Tort - Trespass to Person - Profoundly Developmentally Delayed Victim - Employee of Care Authority - Vicarious Liability - Aggravated and Exemplary Damages Claimed

Impounding Act, 1993 - appeal to Local Court under s38(1) - whether hearing de novo; time limit under s39(a) - estoppel; power of Local Court to order costs; lawfulness of impounding - notification to owner - whether article "abandoned" or "left unattended".

DEFAMATION - statutory qualified privilege - whether conduct in publishing defamatory material reasonable in the circumstances - imputation found by jury not intended - believed in different meaning - failure to show conduct reasonable in relation to unintended imputation - defence not made out.

BANKRUPTCY - failure by trustee to make an election to pursue an appeal; PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - application for adjournment in order to make application for annulment of bankruptcy

Mental Health [4]; Power of Manager; Incapable person an executor; Deed to be executed to vest executorship in Public Trustee; Succession [69]; Executor incapable; Order that deed be executed to transfer executorship to Public Trustee

Criminal Law and Procedure - Sentence - Aggravated Armed Robbery

Criminal Law; Severity of sentence; Sexual assault; Sexual intercourse with child under 10 years; Aggravated sexual intercourse without consent; Voluntary disclosure of guilt; Judicial Commission Statistics

Criminal Law and Procedure - Sentence - Parity with Co-offenders

WORKERS' COMPENSATION - Workers Compensation Act 1987 - s10 - whether two journeys or one - whether single journey - whether periodic journey - whether material increase in risk - whether injury caused was fault of worker - whether error of law

Workers Compensation - meaning of "employment" - effect of voluntary redundancy - loss of weekly earnings - judicial discretion

EVIDENCE - whether evidence warranted Jones v Dunkel inference - whether failure of trial Judge to deal with relevant and credible evidence error of law

Corporations Law. Application to set aside statutory demand. No matter of principle.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Jurisdiction of Commercial Tribunal re damages; Fair Trading Act 1987, and defence of promissory estoppel; Application of Retail Leases Act 1994 to assignment of lease; Costs

SUCCESSION [313] - Family provision - Principles upon which relief granted - General matters - Difficulties of fact finding in respect of old family disputes; SUCCESSION [320] - Family provision - Principles upon which relief granted - Applications of children - Adult children generally - Provision made for four out of seven adult children who had been excluded from will.

Search warrant; Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1989; effect of invalidity; other powers of entry; search and removal of animals; whether entry lawful despite invalidity of warrant; prerequisites for exercise of statutory powers

Family Provision and Maintenance Practice. Application made out of time. Whether sufficient explanation for the delay in making the application when applicant knew of the time limits. Application refused.

Criminal Law; sentencing; computer crime; insertion of data intentionally, without authority and maliciously; eight additional offences taken into account; sentence of three years with eighteen months to be served in custody; sentence not excessive; Commonwealth Crimes Act, ss 16BA and 26D

sentencing; trial judge's discretion; mitigating factors

Section 5F Criminal Appeal Act 1912

DAMAGES - QUANTUM - contribution of medical condition - contribution of nature and conditions of work

Workers compensation ; procedural fairness

Workers compensation; safe system of work; failure to ensure adherence to the system; failure by trial judge to accord due weight to documentary evidence.

PRIVILEGE - client legal privilege - whether lost by providing copies of documents to Police - Evidence Act 1995 s 122(2)(a) - whether provided in the course of making a confidential communication - Evidence Act s 117(1) definition of "confidential communication" - Police could use contents of documents in investigations or for prosecution - not confidential communication.

DAMAGES - notice of motion to amend order of Court; ORDER - as to new trial limited to damages

WORKERS COMPENSATION - lump sum compensation - did not fail to assess permanent impairment - did not take irrelevant matters into account - did wrongly assess permanent impairment as percentage of a most extreme case when should have assessed percentage of compensation payable for total loss - Jones Brothers Bus Co Pty Ltd v Baker (1992) 26 NSWLR 322 referred to - but on facts no difference in result; WORKERS COMPENSATION - compensation for pain and suffering - referred to pain and suffering as result of injury - compensation should have been for pain and suffering as a result of loss - Borovac v Corporate Ventures Pty Ltd (1995) 12 NSWCCR 84 - on facts no difference - award not excessive.

Appeal decision of costs assessor

CORPORATIONS LAW — Statutory Demand in relation to a joint debt of partnership companies (if owed) — Single composite application to set aside rather than one application by each partner company — Compliance with s459G — Defect or irregularity within s467A.

CRIMINAL LAW - evidence - admissibility of evidence going only to credit, pursuant to Evidence Act, s 108(1) and (3)(a) and (b)

CRIMINAL LAW - evidence identification of the accused in recorded conversation - voice identification.

Criminal Law and Procedure - Juvenile - Sentence According to Law - Serious Offences - High Degree of Culpability - Availability of Rehabilitation Programmes - No Error in Assessment of Penalty Manifest

CRIMINAL LAW; Practice & Procedure; Sentence Appeal

APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL - When appeal lies - From Compensation Court - Error of law - Failure to give reasons for decision - Question of law - What constitutes - Absence of evidence to found finding of fact - No question of principle involved

HIGHWAYS - Negligence and nuisance - Injuries to user of highways - Liability of highway authority - In respect of what matters; HIGHWAYS - Negligence and nuisance - Injuries to user of highways - Liability of highway authority - Nonfeasance and misfeasance

Family Provision; Claims by adult son (of first marriage) and by widow; Widow had formerly been de facto spouse of testator; Will of testator revoked by his marriage eleven days before his death; Intestacy; Administration of estate upon intestacy; Competing claims of adult son and of widow; Estate not sufficient to meet both claims; Claim of widow is of a higher order than that of adult son

COSTS — Reserving costs — Varying cost order when Equity proceedings effectively replaced by proceedings in the Industrial Relations Commission.

SUCCESSION; WILLS PROBATE AND ADMINISTRATION - construction and effect of testamentary dispositions - whether the gift is subject to a condition - whether it is a condition precedent or a condition subsequent.

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

Validity of deed of option - whether deed documents were counterparts at time of exchange - grant of option - whether grant made at time of exchange or at time of receipt of exchanged document by vendor (ss66ZC, 66ZG, 66ZH, 66ZI); Credit - effect of abandonment of claims by defendant; Agency - implied actual authority - whether vendor, by her conduct, authorised plaintiff's solicitor to undertake all such things necessary as to effect valid exchange - ratification of agency relationship by vendor; Rescission - purchaser to give vendor cooling-off certificate pursuant to s66ZC - entitlement to rescind in absence of certificate (s66ZH) - requirement that notice of cooling-off period be attached to contract or either party can rescind (s66ZH) - non-attachment of documents to contract (s66ZI); Law Reform - s66ZH Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) - benefit of cooling-off attaches to grantee - rights of rescission also given to grantor - unjust and inappropriate.