Inbrief

Australia’s Right to Know – Freedom of Speech Conference

Tuesday 24 March 2009 – Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

Join Australia’s leading lawyers, academics, journalists, politicians and public servants for an important debate on our freedom of speech....

Government moves to reinforce journalists' privilege

Less than a week before the Freedom of Speech Conference, Attorney-General Robert McClelland has introduced the Evidence Amendment (Journalists’ Privilege) Bill 2009 in the House of...

Legislation to note: amendments to native title laws

Attorney-General Robert McClelland today introduced the Native Title Amendment Bill 2009. The attorney says the Bill will "give the Federal Court control of the management of native title claims from...

Closer trans-Tasman cooperation on judgments and insolvency arrangements

Attorney-General Robert McClelland and New Zealand's justice minister have been meeting in Canberra to discuss the implementation of the Trans-Tasman Court Proceedings and Regulatory Enforcement...

Breakfast talk series: Law and Judgment in History

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Members are invited to attend the penultimate Breakfast Talk Series on Law and Judgment in History: Classical and Biblical Canons of Truth, given by Emeritus Professor Edwin Judge,...

Clerking goes online - Lyus LeGal

Belinda Lyus has created Australia's first online clerking service. Lyus LeGal P/L provides tailored clerking to top mediators and barristers throughout Australia, as well as arranging specialist...

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

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

Lift Capital Partners Pty Ltd v Merrill Lynch International [2009] NSWSC 7 _ID, PF and DV v Director General, Dept of...

Public opinion and sentencing: can asking jurors help?

The Australian Institute of Criminology has published a paper entitled: Gauging Public Opinion on Sentencing: Can Asking Jurors Help? According to the report, " the opinion of jurors towards...

Surveying the challenges for lawyers in a country practice

The Law Council hopes a survey commencing this week will help identify issues affecting the recruitment and retention of legal practitioners in country Australia. The online survey, being sent by law...

Victoria's Charter of Rights a success: A-G Hulls

Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities has been a resounding success and provides a proven model for consideration by the Australian Government’s charter consultation...

Papers to note: Senate report on criminal jurisdiction of the Federal Court

The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has published a report on the Federal Court of Australia Amendment (Criminal Jurisdiction) Bill 2008. The purpose of the Bill is to...

Law Council Executive fills vacancies

On Saturday, 14 Mach 2009 two new members were elected to the Law Council Executive. The first resulted from a casual vacancy created by the resignation of Mr Ken Martin QC on his appointment to the...

Parliamentary committee examines covert search warrants legislation

The New South Wales Parliament's Legislation Review Committee has expressed its grave concern that the government's new covert search warrant powers "significantly trespass on personal rights and...

Papers to note: independent review of military justice

The chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, has released the report of the Independent Review on the Health of the Reformed Military Justice System, conducted by,...

SCNSW Equity Division: Practice Note on cross-border insolvency

On 11 March 2009, Chief Justice J J Spigelman AC issued Practice Note SC Eq 6 (Cross-Border Insolvency: Cooperation with Foreign Courts or Foreign Representatives). The Practice Note commenced on 11...

Law Council welcomes growth in international legal services

The Law Council has welcomed the release of figures which show that Australia’s international legal services market has grown by nearly 25 per cent in two years. According to a survey,...

Victorian A-G is fair dinkum about a national legal profession

Victorian Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Rob Hulls has called for a national regulator for the legal profession. Mr Hulls said a national regulator would promote more consistent regulatory...

John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarships

Three outstanding Indigenous law students will today receive the Law Council’s John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship. This year’s recipients are Rebecca Martin, 20, from Melbourne...

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes: the Compendium of Workers Compensation Statistics

The Australian Safety and Compensation Council has published the _Compendium of Workers Compensation Statistics 2006-2007. _Some of the more salient results include the following:

>> There were 132...

Reports to note: Latest BOCSAR research on DNA testing of prisoners

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has released a new report: [_Assessing the Impact of Mandatory DNA Testing of Prison Inmates in NSW on Clearance, Charge and Conviction Rates for Selected...

Bar Association objections to covert search warrants are "quite proper"

The Bar Association's critical analysis of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Amendment (Search Powers) Bill 2009 was aired during debate in the Legislative Assembly yesterday. The...

Recent decisions of the House of Lords

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

In re McE (Appellant) (Northern Ireland) In re M (Appellant) (Northern Ireland) In re C (AP)...

Disqualified drivers to lose their licence until appeal is finalised

The New South Wales Government is legislating to prevent disqualified drivers who appeal against their sentences from getting their licence back until their case was finalised. Attorney General...

New appointment to the Land and Environment Court

New South Wales Attorney General John Hatzistergos today announced the appointment of Tim Moore as senior commissioner of the Land and Environment Court. Mr Hatzistergos said Commissioner Moore would...

Web watch: Studies in Scarlet: Marriage and Sexuality, 1815-1914

The Harvard Law School Library has created Studies in Scarlet: Marriage and Sexuality in the US and UK, 1815-1914, a fascinating web site with 420 cases on the "application of the law and the...