Inbrief

Bar News Winter 2009

The Winter 2009 edition of Bar News is out now, featuring a special tribute to the Hon Tom Hughes AO QC, an interview with Chief Justice Michael Black AC, and the 2009 Sir Maurice Byers Lecture. It...

The next ABA Advanced Advocacy Course to be held in Brisbane

The Australian Bar Association's next Advanced Advocacy Course will be held in conjunction with the Bar Association of Queensland on 17-22 January 2010, in Brisbane.** Registration is now open.**...

Bar Council business for April-May 2009

Matters reported elsewhere in In Brief are omitted from this summary of Bar Council business. Bar Council regularly considers requests by the attorney general, the courts and other agencies for...

AG to deliver Sydney Institute address on a charter of rights

Attorney General John Hatzistergos will deliver an address to the Sydney Institute on 22 June 2009, in which he will sum up his argument against a bill of rights. The address will be delivered at...

ALRC releases discussion paper on Commonwealth secrecy laws

The Australian Law Reform Commission today released Discussion Paper 74 Review of Secrecy Laws. ALRC commissioner in charge of the inquiry, Professor Rosalind Croucher, said: “The key focus of...

Call for comments on release of liability insurance data

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is inviting the public and interested parties to comment on proposals to release liability insurance data from the National Claims and Policies...

Reminder: swearing in ceremony for David Davies SC

A ceremonial sitting for the swearing-in of David Davies SC as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales will be held on Monday, 29 June 2009 at 9.30am in the Banco Court. Sandy Street SC will...

Tim Bugg to replace Sir Laurence Street as chair of ILSAC

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has announced the appointment of Mr Tim Bugg as chair of the International Legal Services Advisory Council (ILSAC). Mr Bugg was president of the Law Council of...

Reminder: funeral for Peter Esmond Cullen (1966-2009)

Peter Cullen of 8th Floor Wentworth Chambers died on 28 May 2009. A funeral service will be held tomorrow at St Joseph's Church, 14 Albert Street Edgecliff at 1:00pm.

18 June 2009

NSW Budget and what it means for the administration of justice

Attorney General John Hatzistergos has announced a range of law and justice measures contained in the 2009-2010 state budget. Crown prosecutors, support staff and solicitors located in three separate...

AG Hatzistergos says NSW is the model for human rights

Attorney General John Hatzistergos has published his submission to the National Human Rights Consultation. New South Wales, he argues, has "a system of parliamentary oversight, independent supporting...

Legal Aid Grants Online update

**Grants Online video tour **

Legal Aid NSW has now developed an online video tour to help barristers to become more comfortable with Grants Online. The tour focuses on the basic information that...

Human Rights Commission releases its submission on a charter of rights

The Australian Human Rights Commission has lodged its submission to the National Human Rights Consultation and, perhaps not surprisingly, has recommended that the Australian Parliament should enact a...

New members of the Bar Association

At a meeting of Bar Council on 4 June, the persons listed below were accepted as members of the New South Wales Bar Association.

Bail Amendment (Authorised Justices) Regulation 2009

The Bail Amendment (Authorised Justices) Regulation 2009 has been gazetted. The object of this Regulation, as provided by the explanatory note, is to prescribe certain persons as authorised justices,...

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

The following four cases will be published in a forthcoming volume of NSWLR:

Ekermawi v Administrative Decisions Tribunal of NSW and Others _[2009] NSWSC 143 Stapley v Towing Masters Pty Ltd (t/as...

Laffo's Long Lunch at the Tattersall's Club

Members of the bar are invited to attend Laffo's Long Lunch to raise funds for a scholarship in honour of Matt Laffan. The lunch will be held on 26 June 2009 at 12.30pm **- in the Tattersall's Club,...

Bar Association supports a charter of rights

The Bar Council last night signed off on its submission to the National Human Rights Consultation. According to that submission, the Bar Association considers that the most appropriate option for...

Appointment of crown prosecutors

Mr James Henry Gibson and Ms Katrina Lee Ratcliffe have been appointed as crown prosecutors for the period commencing on 11 June 2009 and expiring on 10 June 2016.

Mr Kenneth Richard Gilson, Ms...

New demerits scheme to take effect from 1 July

Minister for Roads Michael Daley today announced the new demerit point scheme would be introduced on 1 July 2009. "The new bands have been designed to drive down the number of speeding-related deaths...

Duty Barrister Scheme: a request for volunteers

We are in the process of compiling the next duty barrister roster for the period 1 July 2009 to 30 September 2009.� To date, the response from existing duty barristers has not been encouraging....

Representative status of applicants seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court

The registrar of the High Court, Mr Andrew Phelan, has written to the Bar Association regarding counsel who are engaged on a direct briefing basis by applicants seeking special leave to appeal. In...

Notice on weekly interest on lump sum compensation

The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Weekly Interest on the Lump Sum) Notice 2009 has been added to the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. The purpose of the Notice is to specify...

Commissioner appointed to the Land and Environment Court

Ms Linda Mary Pearson has been appointed as a full-time commissioner of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales for the period commencing on 13 July 2009 and expiring on 12 July 2016.

**11...

National Guide to Discretionary Items in Bills of Costs

On 26 May 2009 the registrar of the Federal Court issued a National Guide to Discretionary Items in Bills of Costs. The guide provides information on the exercise of a taxing officer’s...