Doyle’s Farm Pty Ltd v MDBA [2021] NSWSC 369
Was the Murray Darling Basin Authority a ‘public or other authority’ for civil liability purposes2? A note directed the reader to the Interpretation Act 1987. That Act applies to all NSW statutes except to the extent of any contrary intention. While the Act is only a starting point …
Ozcan v Macarthur Disability [2021] NSWCA 56
When parliament re-enacts provisions courts have construed, it is presumed to have adopted that interpretation as applying to the new law6. This case (at [32-34]) flags a practical difficulty. This is that the strength of the presumption varies with the confidence with which it may be gauged that the legislature knew …
Namoa v The Queen [2021] HCA 13
Namoa and her husband were convicted for conspiring to do acts in preparation for a terrorist act8. She argued spouses can’t be guilty of conspiracy due to an old common law rule. Gleeson J (at [11])9 said codes take their natural meaning with no presumption that they merely restate the …
Barnden, in re Millrange Pty Ltd [2021] FCA 415
What happens when a statutory obligation is impossible to comply with? In this corporations law case, the liquidator had to notify all creditors a pooling order was to be sought13. Jagot J (at [5]) held that, where a statutory obligation cannot be complied with ‘for some reason beyond the …
Minister v Parata [2021] FCAFC 46
Notification of the decision to cancel Parata’s visa failed to say the decision was reviewable. The AAT held his later review application invalid. He appealed, arguing the time for lodging the application3 had not yet commenced because the notification was invalid.
The court agreed, saying (at [80-81]) that calculation of the time should …
University of Melbourne v CSR [2021] VSC 156
This case shows the importance of context and purpose7. The university leased land to a ‘student village’ operator for 38 years at nominal rent. It said the land, ‘used by a charitable institution exclusively for charitable purposes’, was exempt from land tax8.
The exemption depended on use rather …
Re Christu [2021] VSC 162
The law usually steers away from moral judgments, but not always. Did the testator here have a ‘moral duty’ to provide for the ‘proper maintenance and support’ of his adult son10? The father had left everything to his 2 daughters, nothing to the son.
McMillan J (at [10]) said existence of a moral …
McKane v Commissioner [2021] NSWSC 324
A serious sex offender at Junee sought review of an official refusal to downgrade his prison security classification. Courts traditionally exercise restraint in reviewing managerial decisions in prison contexts.
Walton J (at [49-55]) first noted cases saying that administrative decisions by prison authorities are not reviewable13. Prison legislation ‘should ordinarily be interpreted …
Kingdom Towers v Liverpool [2021] NSWLEC 1074
The impact of provisions being ‘beneficial’ can be less than straightforward3. It was argued in this case that dispensing with height restrictions under an environmental plan4 was ‘beneficial and facultative’, meaning the clause in question should have the ‘widest interpretation that its language will give’5.
The court found …
R v Grundy [2021] SASCA 4
This case confirms that, even if the old rule about construing offence provisions in favour of the accused is one of last resort and has lost much of its importance7, it may apply where ambiguity persists8. The defendant had been found guilty of possessing a gun without a licence, for …
