Richmond Football Club v Verraty[2019] VSC 597
The consequences of an interpretation are considered more now than in the past. They remain difficult arguments to make in practice, however. This case (at [58]) shows courts are rarely ‘swayed’ by arguments of this kind alone, and that the merits of competing views are to be looked at carefully5. …
Cappello v Roads [2019] NSWCA 227
This appeal, from a case discussed in Episode 48, was dismissed unanimously. The main point (at [39]) is that the purposes of a statute are not limited only to what an objects clause may state. Payne JA said that purposes are ‘not to be conflated with the objects of the Act’6, and …
Dentown Pty Ltd v PWI Group [2019] NSWSC 1032
Rees J in this case considered whether a company director had improperly used information to gain an advantage contrary to the Corporations Act10. In interpreting the provisions, the judge (at [248]) relied on a note to the Act. Here, notes were part of the Act and had ‘the same …
Taylor v Attorney-General [2019] HCA 30
Edelman J in this case (at [148]) said reliance on ambiguous statements in an EM ‘would invite a teleological approach to interpretation’14. What was he getting at? The context was the meaning of ‘private prosecution’ in the War Crimes Act 1945, where the EM had said that it was ‘desirable to …
Pell v The Queen [2019] VSCA 186
The accused was convicted of child sex offences and jailed for 6 years. Appeal ground 3 was that he had not been arraigned ‘in the presence of’ the jury2. With his consent, the jury had seen the process in full via video-link. All judges rejected the argument that ‘presence’ meant only …
Firefighters Benefit Fund v FCT [2019] AATA 2775
ITAA36 s 121 says that an association of persons formed for the purpose of insuring them against loss, damage or risk ‘is taken … to be a company carrying on the business of insurance’. The fund argued that, despite this, it was not an entity of this kind because insurance legislation definitions …
Mondelez v AMWU [2019] FCAFC 138
For each year of service, an employee was ‘entitled to 10 days of paid personal/carer’s leave’6. X worked three 12 hour shifts a week, rather than standard hours for the same total. Was X entitled to 10 days at 7.2 hours per day under the ‘industrial’ meaning of ‘day’, or 10 days …
Fitzpatrick v Lifetime Support [2019] SASCFC 97
A scheme for future care10 sought to exclude rights to common law damages11. Legislation is usually not read this way unless a contrary intention appears12. In this case, however, there was an unmistakeable policy to exclude those rights, manifested by the alternative compensation the scheme provided.
A narrow …
Satmell v Blacktown CC [2019] NSWLEC 94
Identifying the purpose of provisions at the correct level is ‘integral’ to interpretation3 because purpose drives constructional choice, consistent with s 15AA of the Acts Interpretation Act 19014. Even though purpose resides in the text and structure of the statute, it may be derived from external sources.
This case (at …
Waterfront Place v Minister [2019] VSCA 156
This appeal from a case in Episode 42 is about the meaning of ‘no later than’ in VCAT notice-giving provisions. Refusing the appeal, the court focussed on the interpretation provision about calculating time5, and whether a ‘contrary intention’ excluded its operation. It was argued that the absence of uncertainty amounted to …
