The King v Jacobs Group [2023] HCA 23
This case is about the penalty imposed after a company conspired to bribe a foreign official on construction projects8. The penalty provision mirrored treaty obligations and was to be read consistently with international law9. Penalties should be ‘effective, proportionate and dissuasive’; and proportionate to the gravity of the …
Disorganized Developments v SA [2023] HCA 22
Hells Angels is a criminal organisation. Two members were directors of Disorganized, which owned land at Cowirra. It is an offence for members of a criminal organisation to enter property declared a ‘prescribed place’11. Regulations sought to (but did not on their face) declare the land a ‘prescribed place’. After conviction, …
MK v R [2023] NSWCCA 180
MK was convicted of maintaining an ‘unlawful sexual relationship’ with a child13. That term is defined as ‘a relationship in which an adult engages in 2 or more unlawful sexual acts towards a child over any period’. Two earlier cases held that a sexual relationship over and above commission of the offences …
iNOW! first published in 2015 and now turns 100. What has happened over that period and what does it mean for the interpretation of statutes? Two things stand out. The first is the stability of the system. The principles and the methods by which they are to be applied are well-established, known and flexible. The second is the place …
Senior judges once said not to read books about interpretation1. That changed with the explosion of legislation we see in the modern state. Professor Pearce produced our first textbook back in 1974. Two more have now entered the field and all of them are good2. Interpretation is a significant body of law in its own right. …
CEO v Waroona Resources [2023] WASCA 73
Regulations exempted ‘asbestos containing material’6 – defined as ‘manufactured material … that, as part of its design, contains asbestos’ – from levy calculation. Waroona said this should be read as including a mix of asbestos and soil where separation was impracticable.
Waroona argued that the levy’s purpose of encouraging recycling did not …
Doman v Leadenhall Australia [2023] SASC 97
This case is about the effect of bankruptcy on judgment debt interest. It is important for two reasons. First is the principle that statutes – in this case, the Bankruptcy Act 1966 – override the common law to the extent of any inconsistency. Second is the discussion by McDonald J (at [50-57]) about …
Azimitabar v Commonwealth [2023] FCA 760
Statutory definitions, as mere aids to construction, are usually unable to confer powers10. In this case, the definition of ‘immigration detention’ seemed to allow the minister to approve ‘another place’ as an immigration detention centre. A delegate purported to use the power to approve the Mantra Hotel as such a centre. This …
Host-Plus v Maritime Super [2023] NSWSC 725
Did an asset transfer from one superfund to another involve an ‘appointment’ for the purpose of unlawful inducement provisions13? The word ‘appointment’ has a well-understood legal meaning in trust situations14. Words with a legal meaning when used in a statute take that meaning ‘unless a contrary meaning clearly appears …
What has Franz Kafka’s The Trial got to do with interpretation? Patrick v AIC (No 2)1 is about when the AIC had a ‘duty’ to make an FOI review decision2 as would allow the Federal Court to intervene for ‘unreasonable delay’3. It was argued no duty arose until the review process was complete. Wheelahan J (at …
