Criminal law — Practice and procedure — Jury — Empanelment — Peremptory challenge — Infringement of right — Accused entitled to have adequate time to view prospective juror’s face — Waiver of objection to procedure — Juries Act 2000 (Vic) ss 36, 39

Criminal law — Evidence — Record of interview — Admissibility — Investigators raise question of motive of complainant to lie — Whether accused’s answers were of probative value

Wills and estates — Probate — Small estate — Deemed grant of probate — Later discovery that estate exceeded the maximum monetary value for small estate provisions — Where grant of probate now required to distribute real property of estate — Whether revocation of deemed grant required before application for grant of representation — Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic)ss 71, 79

Practice and procedure — Arbitration — Staying court proceeding — Application for a temporary stay of proceeding pending determination of arbitration involving parallel or substantially overlapping issues — Principles governing grant of temporary stay of proceeding pending outcome of concurrent arbitration — Whether temporary stay should be ordered

Practice and procedure — Proceeds of crime — Examination notice — State court exercising federal jurisdiction — Service — Manner of service — Postal service of examination notice under Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002 (Cth) — Whether Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) s 79(1) picks up State rules of court — Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth)ss 2(2),28A(1), (2) — Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) s 79(1) — Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002 (Cth) ss 180, 183 — Supreme Court (Criminal Procedure) Rules 2008 (Vic)r 6.04(3)

Statutory interpretation — Extrinsic materials — Explanatory Memorandum — ‘affects operation’ — ‘otherwise than as provided’ — Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth)s 79(1) — Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth)s 183 — Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) s 28A(2) — Supreme Court (Criminal Procedure) Rules 2008 (Vic) r 6.04(3)

Administrative law — Judicial review — Reasons — Adequacy — Statutory obligation — Path of reasoning — Medical panel opinion — Accident Compensation Act 1985 (Vic) s 68

Accident compensation — ‘No current work capacity’ — ‘Current work capacity’ — ‘Suitable employment’ — Accident Compensation Act 1985 (Vic) ss 5, 93C

Wills and estates — Practice and procedure — Debtor died intestate — No administrator of estate yet appointed — Proceedings against the estate of the deceased by creditor — Mortgagee seeking possession of property of the deceased and payment of debt — Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) s 19 — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure Rules) 2015 (Vic), rr 6.10, 9.08(1), 9.08(5)(a)(i), 16.03(1)(a), 16.03(1)(b)

Equity — Confidential information — Customer list — Whether information in public domain — Disaggregation of categories of information

Equity — Confidential information — Inadvertent disclosure of customer list — Misuse of confidential information in pleadings — Remedies — Application by defendants to strike out pleadings — Application to restrain lawyers from acting — Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) s 9(2)(e)

Legal practice — Trust accounts — Manager appointed to legal practice — Shortfall in funds held in legal practice’s trust accounts — Directions — Distribution of remaining funds to clients — Appropriate method of distributing trust funds

Trusts — Trust accounts — Shortfall in funds — Appropriate method of distributing funds among persons entitled

Companies — Voluntary administration — Administrators seeking directions from the Court in relation to disposing of property of the company and dealing with sale proceeds

Companies — Mortgages, charges and securities — Vesting of security interest in personal property — Meaning of ‘security agreement’ and ‘came into force’ — Effect of assignment on vesting — Interpretation of the timeframe — Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s 588FL

Contract — Competing contracts — Conditions as to formation and performance

Personal property — Securities — Defendants registered their interests on the Personal Property Securities Register — Whether security interests perfected by registration — Whether registrations in time — Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) s 267

Associations and clubs — Horse racing — Rules of racing — Interpretation of rules — Licensed horse trainer bound by rules by agreement — Prohibitions on performance enhancing substances — Substance prohibited unless present at or below specified concentration — Limit expressed to one decimal place — Accredited laboratory reported substance present at above specified concentration — Reading ‘rounded up’ to nearest single decimal place — Rounding up in accordance with scientific conventions — Readings previously rounded down to take account of possibility of error — Change in scientific opinion as to whether rounding down necessary for that purpose

Judicial review and appeals — Appeal from order of an Associate Judge refusing leave to appeal from Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) s 17(3)

Practice and procedure — Appeal to Judge from order of Associate Judge refusing leave to appeal — Scope and nature of appeal — Whether an appeal can be heard if there is no error

Trade practices — Consumer protection — Misleading or deceptive conduct — Misrepresentations — Contractual documents — Whether misrepresentations incorporated in contractual documents capable of constituting misleading or deceptive conduct — Whether capable of constituting misleading or deceptive conduct towards person not party to contract — Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) s 52 — Australian Consumer Law s 18

Real property — Strata title — Owners corporation — Special resolution adopting rule prohibiting residential lot owners from conducting trade — Validity of rule — Powers of owners corporation to prohibit short-term subletting — Subdivision Act 1988 (Vic) ss 27(2C),29(2) — Subdivision (Body Corporate) Regulations 2001 (Vic) regs 201,202,219, 220 — Owners Corporation Act 2006 (Vic) ss 4, 6, 138, 139, 140(2)(b), sch 1, cll 1, 4, 5, 7, sch 2, cl 5 — Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic), ss 4, 40,88(3)

Public international law — Foreign state immunity — Immunity from jurisdiction — Third party proceedings against Republic of Nauru - Claim for indemnity under Nauruan statute — ‘Commercial transaction’ — Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 (Cth) ss 9, 11

Costs — Jurisdiction — Foreign state immunity — Claim under Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) — Whether immune foreign State a ‘party’ to Fair Work proceedings — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) ss 3, 24 — Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 570 — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic) r 11.04(1)

Administrative law — Ombudsman — Jurisdiction — Investigatory powers — Investigation of matter referred by Legislative Council — Absent referral, matter not within Ombudsman’s jurisdiction — Whether matter referred by Legislative Council in Ombudsman’s jurisdiction — Ombudsman Act 1973 (Vic) s 16

Statutes — Interpretation — Ordinary meaning of ‘any matter’ — Legislative intent, purpose and objects — Ombudsman Act 1973 (Vic) s 16

Practice and procedure — Criminal law — Record of interview — Application by news media for access to audiovisual record of interview — Open justice — Relevant factors — Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) ss 464JA, 464JB

Practice and procedure — Special Referee — Report — Discovery — Electronic or technology-assisted review of documents — Management of large volume of potentially discoverable material

Practice and procedure — Discovery — Large document case — Use of predictive coding technology (’Technology Assisted Review’) — Appointment of Special Referee — Reference of questions regarding discovery and inspection of documents — Reference conducted as facilitative process — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic) O 50 — Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) ss 7, 9, 55

Wills and estates — Administration proceeding — Account — Failure to provide timely and adequate financial information to beneficiaries — Costs — Beneficiaries seek costs against the executor in his personal capacity — Executor seeks costs against beneficiaries — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) s 24 — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic)r 63.07

Wills and estates — Executor’s commission — Executor seeks commission at 2 per cent on gross value of estate — Executor seeks commission on an hourly basis — Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) s 65 — Supreme Court (Administration and Probate) Rules 2004 (Vic) O 10

Administrative law — Judicial review — Habeas corpus — Certiorari — Validity of Orders in Council — Improper or extraneous purpose — Failure to take into account relevant considerations — Power to establish centres for detention of young persons — Use of power to establish remand centre and youth justice centre within adult jail for the purpose of ‘emergency accommodation’ — Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) ss 478, 482, 484

Human rights — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities — Children — Protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment — Protection of child in their best interests – Humane treatment when deprived of liberty — Public authorities — Obligation to give proper consideration to human rights — Effect of failure to give proper consideration — Declarations — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) ss 10(b), 17(1), (2), 22(1), 38(1)

Corporations law — Derivative action by shareholder — Application for leave to bring proceeding in Japan on behalf of company — Criteria to be proved — Whether plaintiff acting in good faith — Whether in best interests of company for plaintiff to be granted leave to bring proceeding — Whether proceeding involves serious question to be tried — Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), s 237(1), (2)

Words and phrases — ‘good faith’ — ‘best interests of company’ — ‘serious question to be tried’

Criminal law — Search warrants — Execution of warrant — Seized items — Seizure during execution of items not named or described in warrant — Power of Magistrates’ Court to order return of items — Common law extension of search and seizure under a search warrant — Whether items were seized ‘under a search warrant’ — Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 465 — Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (Vic) ss 75, 76, 78

Tort — Psychiatric injury — Significant injury threshold level — Amendment of legislation — Psychiatric injury impairment of 10 per cent or more — Certificate of determination issued prior to amendment — Application of new threshold level to proceedings on foot at the time of amendment — Transitional provision — Whether amendment had retrospective application — Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) ss 28LB, 28LE, 28LF, 28LZH, 28LZS — Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (Vic) s 14(2)

Words and Phrases — ‘unless the contrary intention expressly appears’ — ‘expressly.’

Administrative law — Judicial review — Jurisdictional error — Power to establish centres for detention of young persons — Failure to take into account relevant considerations — Whether power exercised for improper purpose — Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) ss 362, 478, 482.1

Criminal law — Judicial review — Applications before County Court for orders reinstating struck out appeals from sentences of Magistrates’ Court of Victoria — Self-represented litigants — Whether Judge ensured fair trial — Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic), s 267(3)

Human Rights — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities — Right to equality — Right to fair hearing — Self-represented litigants — Procedural requirements of right to equality — ‘Equality of arms’ — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities

Human Rights — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities — Application of Charter to courts and tribunals — Self-represented litigants — Whether Court obliged to comply with ss 8 and 24(1) of the Charter in relation to the conduct of the hearing — Whether Court required to into account that the plaintiffs self-represented — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, s 6(2)(b)

Practice and procedure — Self-represented litigants — Duty of Court to provide assistance

Corporations Law — Winding up — Voluntary winding up — Appointment of special purpose liquidator — Circumstances justifying appointment — Whether special purpose liquidators within definition of ‘auditor’ and precluded from appointment — Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s 472

Negligence — Duty of care — Psychiatric injury — Whether deceased negligent driver owed duty of care to mother to avoid psychiatric injury to her — Duty to avoid injury to oneself

Negligence — Damages — Psychiatric injury — Injury to absent parent of negligent driver — Immediate victim and secondary victim — Whether sufficient proximity between accident and psychiatric reaction of plaintiff

Constitutional law — Commonwealth Constitution — Inconsistency between Commonwealth and State legislation — Detention provisions in Commonwealth migration legislation — Child protection provisions in State legislation — Whether ‘covering the field inconsistency’ or ‘direct inconsistency’ — Whether ‘operational inconsistency’ — Commonwealth Constitution s 109 — Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ss 4AA, 13, 14, 189, 196, 197AA, 197AB, 197AC, 197AD, 197AE, 197AF, 197AG — Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) ss 1, 4, 5, 240, 241, 243, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 268, 274, 275, 280, 281, 282, 533

Evidence — Admissibility — Vexatious litigant — General litigation restraint order — Application for restraint — Whether judgments and orders in earlier proceedings admissible — Whether a finding as to the nature of a proceeding is a ‘finding of fact’ — Evidence Act 2008 (Vic) s 91(1) — Vexatious Proceedings Act 2014 (Vic) ss 3, 29

Practice and procedure — Vexatious litigant — General litigation restraint order — Defendant persistently and without reasonable grounds commenced and conducted ‘vexatious proceedings’ — Whether defendant’s bankruptcy a discretionary factor weighing against the making of a general litigation restraint order — Vexatious Proceedings Act 2014 (Vic) ss 3, 29(2)

Evidence — Privilege — Self-incrimination — Whether witness may claim privilege in respect of evidence in chief — Whether plaintiff ’objects’ — Evidence Act 2008 (Vic) s 128(1)