In the Australian Legal Community, March 31 is the equivalent of “New Year’s Eve” minus the fireworks (unless of course, you have not completed your compulsory professional development points (“CPDs”))!
CPD Seminars in 2020
In February 2020 and March 2020, I presented some CPD seminars to groups of civil litigators. The seminars focussed on judgments of the High Court of Australia in the last 12 months with a particular focus on topics relating to civil litigation.
There were 50 judgments delivered by the High Court of Australia in 2019. Many of these have special interest to civil litigators on topics such as the extent of legal professional privilege, legal costs, contractual interpretation, caveatable interests, statutory unconscionability and improperly obtained evidence (the first case of 2020).
By way of summary, the decisions I focussed on were the following:
- Rinehart v Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd [2019] HCA 13 – re contractual construction)
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Kobelt [2019] HCA 18 – re statutory unconscionability (ss. 12CA, 12CB, 12CC Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth))
- Northern Territory v Sangare [2019] HCA 25 – re costs; there is no departure from the “usual order of costs” (i.e. costs follow the event) solely on the basis of a litigant’s impecuniosity
- Glencore International AG v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] HCA 26 – re Legal Professional Privilege; it is not a “positive right” capable of founding injunctive relief
- Bell Lawyers Pty Ltd v Pentelow [2019] HCA 29 – re costs of self-represented legal practitioners (including barristers) are not recoverable, c.f. the “Chorley exception”
- Boensch v Pascoe [2019] HCA 49 – re the property of a bankrupt which vests in the trustee in bankruptcy is a caveatable interest (s.58 Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) and s.74P(1) Real Property Act 1900 (NSW))
- Kadir v The Queen [2020] HCA 1 – re illegally obtained evidence (s.138 Evidence Act 2005 (NSW))
Published Case Notes
My case notes on the above judgments are published in the Law Society Journal (LSJ):
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Kobelt [2019] HCA 18
- Glencore International AG v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] HCA 26
- Kadir v The Queen [2020] HCA 1
More
If you would like more information on the above topics, please feel welcome to contact me.