Jusand Nominees v Rattlejack [2023] FCAFC 178
An issue in this infringement case was whether the patent specification disclosed and supported the invention9. The statutory requirements had been amended to align our law with offshore practice. On the basis they were ‘ambiguous’ under s 15AB(1)(b)(i) of the Acts Interpretation Act, Perram J had regard to extrinsic materials …
EPA v Sydney Water [2023] NSWLEC 119
SW resisted a subpoena for documents because their sole purpose was that of a ‘voluntary environmental audit’ (protected). The interpretation point was how this composite expression was to be construed.
Moore J said the ‘task is to construe the language of the statute, not individual words’11. Composite expressions are …
Russell v R [2023] NSWCCA 272
This ‘extreme body modification’ case is a sequel to the genital mutilation decision, R v A2 [2019] HCA 35. R was convicted of genital mutilation14 – labiaplasty on a consenting adult female. He appealed on the basis High Court dicta made it clear the offence was confined to ritual acts committed on female …
The Melbourne Cup was run this month and a horse named Interpretation came sixth. Horseracing and statutory interpretation have one thing in common. They are both about picking winners. A degree of ‘interpretation’ may be applied to the form-guide, and there are any number of ‘systems’ dedicated to this exciting pursuit. They include raw statistics, urban mythology, superstition and the …
AER v Pelican Point Ltd [2023] FCA 1110
A regulator sought declarations that Pelican had under-reported the electricity it could produce on a given day. Pelican argued that any doubt or ambiguity in the civil penalty provisions should be resolved in its favour. Besanko J (at [680]) agreed generally2.
This is similar to criminal situations where, if real …
Croc’s Franchising v Alamdo [2023] NSWCA 256
Did COVID regulations protect Croc’s as an ‘impacted lessee’ from termination by Alamdo?4 Clause 7 required regard be had to National Code principles when decisions affected ‘impacted lessees’.
While ordinary interpretation principles apply to delegated legislation5, that legislation will often not be drafted with the same care as statutes…
Granville Hotel v ILGA [2023] NSWCA 248
Granville’s application to operate pokies late at night was rejected on the basis there were insufficient gaming ‘venues’ proximate to the hotel. The dispute turned solely on whether ‘venues’ in a guideline8 included the singular9. Granville argued it should.
Kirk JA (at [32]) accepted that the Interpretation Act applied to …
Raiz v PSR (No 2) [2023] FCA 1293
Dr Raiz challenged referral of a complaint to a committee. He said a prior ‘inclination to refer’ was itself a ‘decision’ which was flawed because his submissions had not been taken into account11. The issue was what is meant by ‘make a referral’12.
The judge held no ‘decision’ …
E100 talks about the controlling influence of purpose in our system. But purpose does not solve all problems. Purpose may operate as the ‘statutory decider’ only where it can be derived from objective evidence within or outside the statute. Purpose may involve a compromise, be obscure or unexpressed1. This happened in a recent GST food case2. …
Ramsay v Minister [2023] NSWLEC 66
Farmers were granted access licences for lesser amounts of water than they applied for. They tried to appeal on the basis that ‘a decision refusing to grant an access licence’ had been made5. They raised the principle that, where two meanings are open, it is proper to adopt the one which avoids …
