In Osland v Secretary to the Department of Justice [2010] HCA 24, Chief Justice French, and Justices Gummow and Bell said: ‘The jurisdiction and powers of the Court of Appeal 17.  It is necessary to refer to the nature of the jurisdiction and powers of the Court of Appeal in an appeal from an order [...]

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In Seachange Management Pty Ltd v Madgwicks, [2010] VCAT 599, Senior Member Vassie decided that solicitors who allegedly falsely wrote to the Registrar of Titles advising that proceedings had been instituted to substantiate the claim of their client, a caveator, did not engage in trade and commerce even if the conduct was misleading and deceptive:

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In Gluyas v Google Inc [2010] VCAT 540, an Australian blogger sued Google in VCAT.  Google Inc is an American company.  VCAT struck out the suit on another basis, but indicated that there are no provisions for the service of VCAT applications on persons outside Australia, unlike in the Supreme Court, so that VCAT probably [...]

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In Gluyas v Google Inc [2010] VCAT 540, an Australian blogger took Google to VCAT to complain about the content of a blog published in America on Google’s blogger platform.  The blog criticised people with the blogger’s disability. The blogger sought relief under the Equal Opportunity Act, 1995 (Vic.), claiming that Google had authorised or [...]

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Two men litigated a case over $10,000 in VCAT’s Civil List before a sessional member. As per the norm in that list, they were unrepresented. That Civil List is a place a world away from the proceedings you read about in the law reports.  I must say I like the idea of an accessible tribunal [...]

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In recent times, I have not found legal regulators forthcoming in advising in advance the evidence to be tendered against a practitioner, and have generally sought directions for disclosure where it could not be sorted out between the parties’ representatives, sometimes attracting ire in the process.  I have had disagreements, too, about who should go [...]

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Update, 24 February 2010: An appeal failed: [2010] VSCA 17. Original post: Rule 1.17(1) of the Supreme Court Rules (the County Court’s and Magistrates’ Court’s rules are to similar effect) reads as follows: “Except where otherwise provided by or under any Act or these Rules, a corporation, whether or not a party, shall not take [...]

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Qantas Airways Limited v Gama [2008] FCAFC 69 discusses the interrelationship of the uniform evidence legislation and the High Court’s decision in Briginshaw v Briginshaw (1938) 60 CLR 336.  The relevant bit is in the separate decision of Justice Branson, with whom Justices French (now of the High Court) and Jacobsen agreed at [110].  Briginshaw [...]

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A Queensland District Court judgment (Saunders v Paragon Property Investments Pty Ltd [2009] QDC 19) about the costs provision in a Queensland consumer tribunal has alerted me to a passage from a decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal (Tamawood Limited v Paans [2005] 2 Qd R 101) which might be useful in arguing for [...]

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Update, 8 November 2008: When I wrote this post, the Court of Appeal had authoritatively answered another of the questions posed below, about the penalty privileges, but I had not yet read the case, CT v Medical Practitioners Board [2008] VSCA 157.  Now I have, and I have posted here about it. Original post: WPE [...]

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