Companies - Insolvency - Winding up - Voidable transactions - Unfair preferences - Doctrine of ultimate effect - Entire transaction - Landlord's defence - Mining tenements - Rent - Royalties - Reasonable grounds for suspecting insolvency - Statutory construction - Principles applicable under previous legislation - Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s 588FA(1)(b).

Precedent - Intermediate appellate courts - Statutes - Interpretation - Uniform legislation - Previous decision of Court of Appeal - Decision followed in Court of Appeal of another State - Consistency of interpretation - Not plainly or manifestly wrong.

Practice and procedure - Trial - Self-represented plaintiff - Duty of trial judge to ensure fair trial - Jury trial - Personal injuries claim - Alleged negligent exposure to asbestos - Cancer - Causation - No evidence of exposure to defendant's asbestos products - Successful no-case submission - Directed verdict for defendant.

Criminal law - Bail - Jurisdiction - Magistrates' Court - Bail granted by magistrate - Crown appeal - Judge refusing bail on appeal - Court of Appeal affirming judge's decision - Departure from literal reading of statute - "Has been refused bail by a bail justice or the Magistrates' Court" - Bail Act 1997 (No 9008) ss 18(1) 18A.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Leave to bring common law proceedings - Serious injury - Trial - Evidence - Admissibility - Victorian WorkCover Authority ("VWA") - Pre-trial disclosure obligations - Compliance - Prohibition on admission of undisclosed evidentiary material - Scope of prohibition - Prohibition expressly applicable to claim in respect of deemed serious injury - Whether prohibition applied to common law proceedings brought with leave of the court or the authority's consent - Co-worker - Viva voce evidence - Denial that injury-causing incident occurred - Non-disclosure of witness statement in possession of VWA - Trial judge ruling that worker had waived reliance on statutory prohibition - Ministerial direction affecting question of construction - No residual discretion in trial judge to admit or exclude evidence - "Other material" - Ministerial directions 3, 7.1, 7.4 - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) s 134AB(4) (5) (7) (8) (11).

Criminal law - Procedure - Interlocutory appeal - Primary purpose - Leave to appeal - Certificate - Grounds - Sexual penetration of a child under 16 - Availability of defence of consent - "Not more than two years older" - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 45(4)(b) - Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (No 10096) s 44(6)(c) - Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (No 7) s 295.

Statutes - Interpretation - Time - Ascertainment - Context - Criminal law - Sexual offences - Children - Consent - Age-related defence - Whether parts of years included - Ordinary usage - Young persons' understanding.

Administrative law - Occupational registration - Building practitioners - Building Practitioners Board - Jurisdiction - Disciplinary action - Inquiry - Limitation period - Registration suspended after inquiry commenced - Board precluded from continuing inquiry - Building Act 1993 (No 126) ss 175 177 178 179 179A.

Criminal law - Sentencing - Director's appeal - Principles - Manifest inadequacy - Instinctive synthesis - Manifest inadequacy alone insufficient to warrant appellate intervention - Recklessly cause injury, criminal damage and aggravated burglary - Total effective sentence of three years suspended for operational period of three years - Sentence manifestly inadequate - Offender's release into community - Effect of deprivation of freedom - Risk to offender's rehabilitation - No error of principle identified - Appeal dismissed.

Administrative law - Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - Jurisdiction - Civil Claims List - Consumer and trader disputes - Excluded disputes - Personal injury claims exceeding $10,000 - Disability benefits insurance policy - Stress and anxiety condition - Cessation of payment of benefit - Claim against insurer - Whether claim excluded - Self-represented party - "Related to personal injury" - Fair Trading Act 1999 (No 16) s 107(3).

Criminal law - Procedure - Interlocutory appeals - Leave to appeal - Certification - Discretion - Criteria - Overarching test - Interests of justice - Evidentiary rulings - Admissibility - Murder - DNA evidence - Merits of appeal - Rulings on points of evidence problematic as suitable for interlocutory appeals - Onus of proof - Judicial discretion - Applications refused - Evidence Act 2008 (No 47) ss 135 137 142 - Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (No 7) ss 295 297.

Human rights - Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities - Application to all levels of government decision-making - Right to found a family - Right to respectful privacy and family life - Right to be treated with dignity and humanity - Content of rights - Inherent limitations on scope of judicial guidance - IVF treatment - Access - Prisoners - Health services and humane treatment when incarcerated - Proportionality - Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (No 43) ss 5 7(2) 8(2) 13(a) 17(1) 22(1) 32(1) 38(1).

Prison and prisoners - Prisoners - Rights - Right to receive reasonable medical care and treatment necessary for preservation of health - Reproductive health - Leave permit from prison - Decison-maker's obligations - Failure to give proper consideration to human rights - "Reasonable" - "Necessary for the preservation of health" - Corrections Act 1986 (No 117) ss 47(1)(f) 57A 57D.

Prison and prisoners - Gaoler and prisoner - Absence of fiduciary relationship.

Criminal law - Stalking - Indecent assault - Rape - Misdirection - Consent - Effect of belief - Proviso - No substantial miscarriage of justice - Stalking - Elements of offence - Jury need not be unanimous as to particular acts or form of intent constituting the crime - Sentence - Sentences imposed on counts of stalking and indecent assault manifestly excessive - Offender resentenced to total effective sentence of three years and 11 months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and three months' imprisonment - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 21A 37AA 38(2)(a) 568

Legal practitioners - Advocate's immunity from suit - Scope - Central justification - Finality of litigation - Advocate's claim for unpaid fees - Immunity precludes challenge to advocate's in-court conduct.

Criminal law - Sexual offences against children under 16 years - Obligation of judge to summarise evidence and submissions of counsel - Whether Zoneff warning or Edwards direction required - Evidence of uncharged acts - Standard of proof - Jury adequately warned against propensity reasoning - No inconsistency in verdicts - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 398A.

Criminal law - Fair trial - Jury - Apprehended bias - Test - Juror's knowledge of identity of complainant - Shared golf club membership - Juror providing assurance of impartiality.

Resumption and acquisition of land - Compensation - Entitlement - Pecuniary loss - Disturbance - Opportunity costs - Costs associated with purchase of replacement properties - Loss of use of money - Delayed statutory compensation offer - Statutory interpretation - Ordinary English language usage - "Natural, direct and reasonable consequence" - Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 (No 121) ss 31 40 41.

Appeal - Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal - Appeal on question of law - Whether findings open - Whether failure to have regard to relevant considerations - Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (No 53) s 148.

Appeal - Leave to appeal - County Court - Judgment - Default of appearance - Judgment set aside on second application - Abuse of process - Principles - Interests of justice - "Final and conclusive" - County Court Act 1958 (No 6230) s 73(1).

Administrative law - Judicial review - Ministerial assessment as part of decision-making process - Validity - Environment protection - Proposed replacement ocean access boat ramp - Environmental effects - Whether minister failed to exercise jurisdiction - Minister expressing preference for particular proposal - Ministerial media release misstating nature of requested statutory assessment - Whether irrelevant considerations taken into account - Procedural fairness - Scope - Statutory entitlement to hearing - Expectation - Whether implied entitlement to further hearing - "Assessment" - "Environment" - Environment Effects Act 1978 (No 9135) s 8(1) (2).

Criminal law - Sentence - Offences against the person - Making threat to kill - Causing serious injury intentionally - Attack with machete - Sentence not manifestly excessive - Possibility of deportation on release from prison - Relevance - Potential effect on prisoner - Requirement of sufficient evidentiary basis or Crown concession.

Criminal law - Murder - Self-defence - Defensive homicide - Common law self-defence abolished - Statutory self-defence - Scope - Burden of proof - Direction to be given - Judge's directions on defensive homicide adequate - Directions adequately related intoxication to issue of intent - Sentence - Murder committed when offender was on parole for murder - Leave to appeal against sentence refused - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 9AC 9AD.

Criminal law - Sexual offences - Maintaining sexual relationship with child under 16 - Interlocutory appeal - Evidence - Admissibility - Uncharged acts - Evidence of sexual interest by accused in complainant - Tendency - Context - Significant probative value substantially outweighing any prejudice - Nature of interlocutory appeal - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 47A - Evidence Act 2008 (No 47) ss 97 101 - Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (No 7) s 295.

Criminal law - Murder - Evidence - Admissibility - Wholly circumstantial case - Identification of inanimate objects - Pistol and holster - Evidence of similarity between weapon seen before killing and weapon found in accused's possession after killing - Domican warning not normally required - Jurors' entitlement to rely on own practical experience - Post-offence conduct - Lies - Consciousness of guilt - Evidence of motive - Direction to jury - Verdict not unsafe and unsatisfactory.

Criminal law - Procedure - Trial - Fair trial - Jury - Discharge - Jury retiring to consider verdict - Subsequent discharge of juror - Whether permissible - Ascertainment of commencement and completion of trial - "During a trial" - Juries Act 2000 (No 53) s 43.

Criminal law - Procedure - Trial - Fair trial - Open justice - Jury - Jury question - Question passed privately by tipstaff to judge - All jury questions to be asked and answered in open court - Whether serious irregularity.

Criminal law - Sentence - Aggravation - Murder - Contract killing of lawyer - Non-disclosure of whereabouts of victim's body - Not an aggravating circumstance - Accused's right to conduct defence within bounds of the law - Absence of mitigation - Sentences not manifestly excessive.

Criminal law - Standard of proof - Proof beyond reasonable doubt - Jury - Direction - Affirmation of prevailing view that trial judge should not attempt to define standard.

Criminal law - Fair trial - Characteristics - Trial as fair as court could make it - Stay - Exceptional circumstances test - Extensive mass media pre-trial publicity - Social imperative that accused persons be tried - Courts' repudiation of media's capacity to render accused unable to be tried - Murder - Trial of notorious murderer and rapist - Publication of accused's prior murder and rape convictions - Speculation about and condemnation of accused as serial murderer - Trial judge refusing permanent stay application - Jury - Pre-empanelment disclosure of and warning about accused's previous convictions - Accused convicted - Miscarriage of justice - Appeal allowed - New trial ordered.

Criminal law - Evidence - Admissibility - Disputed identification evidence - Domican warning - Insufficiently specific.

Criminal law - Evidence - Admissibility - Consciousness of guilt - Lies and other post-offence conduct - Edwards direction.

Criminal law - Evidence - Admissibility - Prison informer - Unreliability - Pollitt warning.

Criminal law - Trial - Fair trial - Prejudicial publicity - Retrial of father accused of murder of three young sons - Imminent publication of newspaper article during course of trial - Article dealing with interstate case of man convicted of murder of his young child - Test - Real and substantial risk of prejudice - Interference in course of justice - Possible effect on jury - Importance of trial judge's appraisal of risk - Judge relying on multiple similarities - Suppression order made - No error - Leave to appeal refused.

Courts and judges - Trial - Suppression order - Discretion - Commercial considerations - Newspaper publisher - Primacy of public interest in fair trial.

Contract - Construction - Narrow and pedantic approach eschewed - Complex commercial agreements - Sophisticated parties - Ascertainment of parties' commercial intentions - Securities trading - Loan - Securities lending - Ownership of securities - Master securities lending agreement - Inter-related agreements - Netting of liabilities on default - Value of securities - Sale of securities - Accounting for proceeds - No obligation to deliver borrowed securities on default - Conduct treating securities as assets of lender - Estoppel by convention - Australian Master Securities Lending Agreement.

Restitution - Retention of payment made without legal basis - Absence of general principle of restitutionary entitlement - Categories of entitlement - Contract - Total failure of consideration - Investors' loan agreements financing acquisition of licences and leases for blueberry farming investment schemes - Non-compliance with prescribed interest provisions of Companies Code - Loan agreements unenforceable - Whether investors' retention of loans unjust - Relevance of terms of loan contracts - Relationship to schemes as a whole - Whether trial judge erred in construction of loan agreements and factual findings - Whether action on the sole enforceable loan agreement statute-barred.

Contract - Investment schemes - Where schemes failed and investors' interests lost - Most loan agreements illegal and unenforceable because not severable from transactions contravening.

Contract - Assignment - Debt - Whether lender's claim in restitution assignable - Whether rights effectively assigned by deed.

Criminal law - Juries - Prohibition on inquiries and research - Judge's direction - Post-trial discovery of internet printed material in jury room - Meaning of "beyond reasonable doubt" - Whether jury defied judge's direction - Whether jury breached statutory prohibition - Assumed irregularity not requiring new trial - "Except in the proper exercise of his or her functions as a juror" - Juries Act 2000 (No 53) s 78A.

Criminal law - Procedure - Interlocutory appeal - Fair trial - Permanent stay of prosecution - Exceptional case test - Application refused by trial judge - Almost 28 years between alleged offence and trial - Alleged fingerprint evidence linking accused to offence - Partial destruction of police file - No bad faith - Discretion - Forensic disadvantage to accused - Case not exceptional to justify stay - Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (No 7) s 295.

Courts and judges - Jurisdiction - Cross-vesting - Anti-suit injunction - Availability - Avoidance of injustice - Contractual dispute - Proceedings commenced in Victoria and South Australia concerning same subject matter - Plaintiff in Victorian proceeding seeking anti-suit injunction - Defendant applying to cross-vest Victorian proceeding to South Australia - More appropriate forum - Comity - Judge entitled to seek assurance or undertaking from parties as to stay of other proceeding - Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 (No 29) s 5

Stamp duty - Conveyance or transfer of real property - Exemptions - Transfer from apparent purchaser to real purchaser - Property subject to fixed trust - Property purchased by family company on trust for married couple - Sources of purchase money - Husband becoming sole shareholder - Company wound up - Distribution of property in specie to sole shareholder - Whether transfer to real purchaser - Whether resulting trust a fixed trust - Whether property transferred to beneficiary - Exemption not enabling apportionment of purchase price - "Real purchaser" - Duties Act 2000 (No 79) ss 34 36

Tort - Trespass to land - Defences - Public right of passage - Extinguishment - Need for express words or necessary implication - Road - Unused road under Land Act - Licences - Grazing licence over unused road - Terms - Licence area fenced - Licensee's duty to maintain fences - Adjacent landowners using unused road to gain access to their land - Exercise of licence rights not incompatible with public right of passage - Land Act 1958 (No 6284) ss 3A(3) 130 130AB 130AC 400 401 402 407(3).

Tort - Nuisance - Abatement - Obstruction of public right of way - Member of public removing obstruction.

Evidence - Admissibility - Mediation - Remarks of counsel concerning costs - Statutory prohibition on adducing evidence of things said and done at mediation - Separate statutory provision permitting adducing of evidence if relevant to determining liability for costs - Successful respondent seeking appellant's consent to adduce evidence of counsel's remarks - Appellant alluding to counsel's remarks in written submission - Appellant to be regarded as having consented - Evidence Act 2008 (No 47) s 131(2)(h) - Supreme Court Act 1986 (No 110) s 24A

Costs - Appeal - Testator's maintenance claim - Unsuccessful appeal against order for provision - Application for order that appellant pay costs personally - Whether appellant had acted unreasonably - Grounds of appeal - Challenge to trial judge's factual findings hopeless - Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2005 rr 63.32(2) 64.24(1)

Criminal law - Sexual offences - Evidence - Consciousness of guilt - Post-offence conduct - Alleged implied admission - Edwards warning - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 568(2).

Criminal law - Sexual offences - Indecent assault - Evidence incapable of establishing assault - Retrial ordered on offences of gross indecency - No double jeopardy.

Criminal law - Evidence - Collateral evidence rule - Cross-examination of complainant as to credit - Defence permitted to lead evidence going only to credit - Evidence should have been excluded.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Psychiatric injury - Common law claim - Damages - Assessment - Leave to commence proceedings - Consequences in later proceeding - Whether employer precluded from contending worker did not suffer serious injury - Issue estoppel - Degree of impairment in excess of 30% - Deemed serious injury - Medical panel opinion that degree of impairment exceeded 30% - Special case stated - "Serious injury" - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 67 68(4) 104B(9) 134AB(15) 134AB(16)(b) 134AB(19) - County Court Act 1958 (No 6230) s 76(1).