Cavanagh v Wollondilly (No 2) [2019] NSWLEC 181
Our iTip in Episode 23 was ‘be careful with headings’. This case involved the impact of clause headings in an environmental planning instrument13. The first thing to look at is whether headings of this kind form part of the instrument in question – here they were not. Second, the general …
Judicial decisions on the meaning of a statutory word can sometimes be useful when looking at the same word in another Act. The degree of usefulness varies, however, depending on factors like context and purpose. More weight might be given where the so-called ‘re-enactment presumption’1, recently considered by the High Court, can be engaged2. Where a …
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 …
Australian courts in recent years have had much to say on the interpretation of Double Tax Agreements (DTAs), elaborating on earlier decisions like Thiel. The Full Federal Court decisions in SNF (Australia), Chevron, Satyam and Burton have reiterated the key principles. They again show how important it is to keep in mind the overarching objectives of DTAs, …
The High Court has repeatedly said that interpretation begins with the text of the statute considered in light of its purpose and context. Importantly, context is ‘regarded at this first stage and not at some later stage and it should be regarded in its widest sense’. When ascertaining the context of a statutory provision, regard may be had to extrinsic …
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 …
