Inbrief

Compulsory family dispute resolution

The Federal Magistrates Court has replaced Practice Direction No.2 of 2007 - Family Dispute Resolution - Applications for orders under Part VII Family Law Act 1975,�in order to make its...

Conference on private equity and the sub-prime crisis

Members are invited to attend�a joint Law Council - International Bar Association conference on�private equity and�the sub-prime crisis, which will take place from 7 - 8 April 2008 at...

Nominations for Legal Aid panels

The Bar Association is seeking nominations for the following Legal Aid panels:

• Veteran's Law Panel Selection Committee
• Prisoner's Legal Service; and
• Mental health advocacy

For further information...

Opportunity to own beautiful Indigenous art

The New South Wales Bar Association encourages you to donate to the Indigenous Barristers’ Trust, The Mum Shirl Fund.�Doing so affords you the opportunity to be the proud owner of a...

Federal Court Corporations Law seminars

On Wednesday, 2 April 2008 the Federal Court will hold a seminar in all of its registries on current issues and developments in corporate insolvency law and practice. The seminar will be...

Correction: Proposed Amendment to the New South Wales Barristers’ Rules

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2004

Yesterday's In Brief included an article about proposesd amendments to�the New South Wales Barristers' Rules. The article pointed to a copy of the proposed rules on...

Call for comment on draft Associations Incorporation Bill 208

The New South Wales�Office of Fair Trading has released an exposure draft of the Associations Incorporation Bill 2008. The deadline for submissions is Friday, 11 April 2008 and they should be...

Updated allocation of New South Wales Acts

Executive Council of New South Wales has approved a new allocation of the administration�Acts among the ministry. The allocation is included in a special supplement to the Government Gazette,...

Family lawyers' forums for 2008

The Family Court of Australia Family Lawyer's Forum has been in operation for some time and will�continue to meet in 2008. The forum provides the legal profession with an opportunity to raise...

Recent House of Lords decisions

The following opinions of the lords of appeal�are available on the House of Lords web site:

Corr (Administratix of The Estate of Thomas Corr (Deceased)) v Ibc Vehicles Limited, Appellate...

Law Council signs Guantanamo Bay Letter

The Law Council has joined forces with fellow peak legal bodies from around the world, representing hundreds of thousands of lawyers, to call for the closure of the United States prison facility at...

Anti-spiking amendment to the Crimes Act

The�Crimes Amendment (Drink and Food Spiking) Bill 2008 has been introduced into the Legislative Assembly. The�object of this Bill, as provided in the explanatory notes, is to amend the...

Premier Iemma

New South Wales Parliament resumed yesterday.�In the�Legislative Assembly there was a ministerial statement from Premier Morris Iemma on the�Australian Parliament's apology to the...

Bureau of Crime Statistics launches report on alternatives to custodial sentences

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has announced the findings of its research on rates of imprisonment and alternatives to custody in regional New South Wales. In�today's media release,...

Cases selected for reporting in NSWLR by the editor, Bret Walker SC

__The following four cases�will be headnoted, verified and published in a forthcoming volume of NSWLR.

Jessica Estates v Lennard [2007] NSWSC 1175 (Austin J) (22.10.07) (4500/2007)

R v...

2008 Bar Library Academy Awards Competition

The Bar Library has announced the winners of the 2008 Academy Awards Competition. It was a four-way tie:

• Darren Jenkins, Queens Square Chambers
• Natalie Adams, Crown Prosecutors' Chambers
• Tess...

A new guide for students wanting to practise as a barrister

The Bar Council�of England and Wales has published a new edition of�It's Your Call, an informtion booklet for those who are thinking of coming to the Bar. View the brochure>

28 February...

Web watch: Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

The Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (LTDL) is maintained by the University of California, San Francisco. It contains more than eight million documents (43+ million pages) created by major tobacco...

Legal profession calls for closure of Guantanamo Bay

The Australian Bar Association is among 34 legal professional bodies that have signed a letter to the president of the United States and the prime minister of Canada, calling upon them to close the...

Bar Council business for November 2007 - February 2008

Life membership

The Bar Council resolved by acclamation that Michael Slattery QC, the association’s immediate past-president, be appointed a life member of the Bar Association for his...

Protection of the Environment Operations (Noise Control) Regulation 2008

The Protection of the Environment Operations (Noise Control) Regulation 2008 (NSW) was gazetted on Friday, 22 February 2008. The principal object of the regulation is to repeal and remake, with minor...

Legislation to note: Consumer Claims Amendment Act to commence on 1 March 2008

The Consumer Claims Amendment Act 2007 has been proclaimed and will commence on�1 March 2008, as will the Consumer Claims Amendment Regulation 2008.�The object of the Act, as stated in the...

$100 deposit on Supreme Court transcripts

The Supreme Court has instituted a $100 deposit on transcript fees. The deposit is payable at the time a transcript order is submitted. Learn more>

22 February 2008

Cases selected for reporting in NSWLR by the editor, Bret Walker SC

__The following cases (16) will be headnoted, verified and published in a forthcoming volume of NSWLR.

Commonwealth of Australia v Griffiths and Another [2007] NSWCA 370 (CA) (14.12.07) (40260/2006)... Read more >

Expressions of interest or nominations sought for appointment as federal magistrates

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has written to the Bar Association, inviting expressions of interest, or nominations of suitable persons, for appointment as federal magistrates in Adelaide,...