Hill v Zuda Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 21
In this case (at [25]), 7 judges of the High Court confirmed that an ‘intermediate appellate court should not depart from seriously considered dicta of a majority of this Court’9 – ‘dicta’ are statements which are not part of the reasons for a decision.
Leaving aside the uncertain boundary between ‘considered’ …
BSA v Ventia Australia [2022] NSWCA 82
Ventia subcontracted provision of social housing services to BSA under an arrangement which said each work order was a separate contract. BSA made a claim of 5 work orders which Ventia rejected as violating the ‘one contract rule’ in the legislation13.
The court said it was ‘strongly arguable’ there was no …
Azizi v DPP [2022] VSCA 71
A and O jointly owned a house for which O provided the whole purchase price. O was charged with drug offences and a restraining order placed on the house. O was convicted. A argued her interest should be excluded from confiscation as she acquired it from O ‘for sufficient consideration’5. This was …
Krajcar [2022] VSC 173 and Kildair [2022] VSC 251
Two Victorian cases make key points on remedial and beneficial legislation. In the first, Croft J (at [39-41]) notes that, while remedial laws ‘should be given a beneficial construction’9, this does not allow a court ‘to transcend express words … or to disregard the fundamental structure and approach of …
Piastrino v Seascape Constructions [2022] VSC 202
It is taken as read that statutory definitions are to be inserted into the substantive provision before interpretation is applied12. To do otherwise ‘invites error’. Delany J (at [68]) makes the important extra point that the substantive provision expanded by incorporation of the definition also needs to be read in context …
Twin Rivers Developments v FCT [2022] AATA 887
This decision makes an important point about characterisation. The issue was whether payments to the director of a development entity and his wife were ‘wages’ giving rise to a ‘cash flow boost’ entitlement14. The director gave evidence they were wages and that he and his wife were employees.
However, as …
Secretary v AEUNSW [2022] NSWSC 263
Walton J in a industrial relations case surveys a range of interpretation principles then (at [38]) reduces the most fundamental of them to a single sentence – ‘… the correct approach to the construction of a statutory provision must start and end with the statutory text, and by reference to the purpose of …
Todorovska v Brydens Lawyers [2022] NSWCA 47
From a $100K damages award, lawyers deducted $68K for their costs under a special agreement overriding the statutory cap of $10K. The plaintiff complained that this eventuality had not been disclosed to her, as required5. The appeal court agreed and duly reduced the costs to the lawyers.
Basten JA said (at …
R v Rolfe [2021] HCA 38
A police officer fatally shot an indigenous man during an arrest and was later acquitted of murder. A side issue went to the High Court on the scope of police powers8. On the impact of section headings on interpretation, the court said (at [18]) that ‘a modern approach to statutory construction often …
Amir v Professional Standards [2022] FCAFC 44
Ordinary meaning, the court said11, ‘must necessarily yield to the relevant statutory context’12. The ordinary meaning of ‘decision’ is a conclusion resulting from a mental process translated by an overt act giving finality to that conclusion13. What kind of overt act was required here and when?
The …
