The Commercial Bar Association of Victoria Inc. A0120851O
The Victorian Court of Appeal recently allowed an appeal against an order staying a proceeding brought by companies in liquidation against their former directors for knowingly assisting breaches of trust allegedly committed by the companies. The Court discussed the principles that operate in such circumstances.
The High Court has confirmed that the making of a “procedural” decision to consider exercising a non-compellable discretion to either grant a visa or to permit a further application for a protection visa (which decision has the effect of prolonging the mandatory detention of those affected) gives rise to an obligation to accord procedural fairness.
Copyright – television broadcasts – communication to the public – Russian language programmes – whether channel streaming a “television broadcast” – “relevant broadcaster” – whether exclusive licence.
Trade marks – infringement – use as a trade mark in Australia – goods manufactured and sold overseas for resale in Australia – whether foreign vendor used marks in Australia. Playgro Pty Ltd v...
Trade marks – parallel importation – removal of original packaging and repackaging to comply with local regulation – whether use as a trade mark by reseller – whether section 123 defence applies.
Association with the Olympic brand is a marketer’s dream. Through national and international law, the Olympic Movement is afforded considerable protection against the practice of “ambush marketing” and unauthorised uses of Olympic Insignia. Recently, the Federal Court had opportunity to consider the scope of protection afforded in AOC v Telstra.
In this recent decision, the Court of Appeal held that deleted words appearing on the face of an executed contract may not be used to interpret a clause unless the clause in question (excluding the deleted words) is ambiguous. If it is, the deleted words may be used, only, to assist in choosing between alternative constructions.
In Crown Melbourne Ltd, the High Court held that a statement that lessees “would be looked after at renewal time” did not give rise to an estoppel in favour of the lessees. The judgments of the majority members of the Court should not distract attention from, or suggest a confinement of, the broad inquiry involved in assessing a claim of promissory (or proprietary) estoppel.
For the second time in four years the High Court has considered penalties, but the law remains somewhat fragmented and challenges remain for practitioners seeking to apply it in practice.
In this recent decision, the Court of Appeal held that a mediation-based dispute resolution clause in a construction contract did not oust the jurisdiction of an adjudicator under Victorian security of payment legislation, and that an adjudicator is not bound by a valuation certified by a superintendent under a contract.
The New South Wales Court of Appeal has confirmed that rectification of a contract is generally only available to redress a common mistake, and that estoppel is available in respect of pre-contractual representations, even in the face of an entire agreement clause.
When serving an application to set aside a statutory demand interstate, the strict modes prescribed by SEPA trump service under the Corporations Act (or any mode of informal effective service which might otherwise suffice). Practitioners forgetting this may face a rather abrupt conclusion to proceedings.
In a recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia, Allsop CJ (sitting at first instance) has left the door open as to whether the Federal Court of Australia will depart from the (obiter) views of the Victorian Court of Appeal and instead adopt a default indemnity costs rule in arbitration related court proceedings, as is the case in Hong Kong.
The negative effect of the Kompetenz-Kompetenz principle (enshrined in the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration) requires that courts not make pre-emptive declarations as to arbitral jurisdiction, and adopt a prima facie review when entertaining applications to stay court proceedings. A recent Australian decision threatens to undermine this.