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 …
This political yard sign case shows how big principles resolve little cases – here, the nitty-gritty of town planning laws1. Before the election was called, supporters of Zoe Daniel put up yard signs (aka ‘corflutes’) in advance of her candidacy for Goldstein. The council threatened fines, saying (A) the signs were each a ‘development’ requiring a permit2…
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 …
In a recent election case, a plurality of the High Court made the following comments1 – ‘The identification of legislative purpose involves ‘ordinary processes of interpretation, including considering the meanings of statutory words in the provision, meanings of other provisions in the statute, the historical background to the provision, and any apparent social objective’. A number of …
NSW Commissioner of Police v Cottle [2022] HCA 7
On being compulsorily retired under police laws, Cottle sued for unfair dismissal4. One issue was whether those laws blocked this action. Answer – ‘no’. Overlapping statutes ‘should be construed in a way that best achieves a harmonious result’5, even if sometimes they cannot ‘stand or live together’…
Carr v Carr [2022] NSWSC 166
This case involved an application to exhume a body for reburial at a different location – refused. Leeming JA dealt with two related points of interpretation.
The first (at [82]) is that, while changes to words normally imply changes to meaning, ‘syntactical analysis has its limits’ where the change is minor7. The …
