Courts and judges — Parens patriae jurisdiction — Infants and juveniles — Care and protection — Pregnant teenage child — Intellectual disability — Sole parental responsibility of Secretary to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing — Intersection of statutory powers with parens patriae jurisdiction — Whether parens patriae jurisdiction extends to authorising accommodation in secure welfare service beyond statutory time limit — Statutory power to authorise medical treatment without child’s consent — Whether in best interests of child to be subject to restraint to facilitate child birth and post-delivery insertion of reversible contraception — Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), ss 8(2), 10, 11, 172, 173, 174, 175, 597

Guardianship — Child — Intellectual disability — Care by Secretary order — Statutory detention authority — Sufficiency — Time limitation — Extension — Best interests of child — Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), ss 172, 173, 174

Human rights — Freedom of movement — Limitation — Least restrictive means — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic), ss 7(2), 12

Practice and procedure — Group proceeding — Application for leave to amend group definition — Application to strike out pleadings — Adequacy of group definition — Group member defined as person who acquired motor vehicle containing ‘defeat device’ — Existence of ‘defeat device’ a fact in issue — Definition of ‘defeat device’ technical — Whether definition permitted ascertainment of group members — Whether amendment unfair or unreasonable — Whether adverse to interests of group members — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic), s 33H

Equity — Breach of fiduciary duty — Remedies — Equitable compensation — Causation — Procurement of breach — Fiduciary and procurers caused money to be borrowed and disbursed in breach of duty — Measure of loss — Connection between breach and loss — Whether loss would have been incurred had breach not been procured — Liability to compensate — Whether procurers and fiduciary jointly and severally liable to compensate

Practice and procedure — Security for costs — Funds paid into court — Discretion as to disposition — Plaintiff provided security for costs of third defendant — Fifth defendant and plaintiff sought release of funds — Fifth defendant successful in defending claims and entitled to costs — No realistic prospect of fifth defendant recovering costs from plaintiff — Relevance of purpose for which funds paid into court and interests of payer and payee — Particular defendant’s interests not an object of the payment into court — Whether funds to be released to plaintiff or to particular defendant

Local Government — Councillors — Role — Allegation of misconduct by Councillor — Internal arbitration — Finding of misconduct arising from comments made on social media by Councillor using personal account in relation to a matter for decision by Council — Whether conduct occurred ‘in performing the role of a Councillor’ — Local Government Act 2020 (Vic), s 28 — Local Government (Governance and Integrity) Regulations 2020 (Vic), sch 1 cl 1

Words and phrases — ‘decision making’

Adminisitration and probate — Revocation of probate — Fraudulent impersonation of executors — Application to revoke grant — Power to revoke a grant obtained by fraud — Adminstration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), s 67

Limitation of actions — Declaratory relief — Declarations sought as to shareholdings in private company more than six years after allegedly false notifications made to Australian Securities and Investments Commission — Whether claims ‘founded on tort’ — Whether facts alleged comprised tort of injurious falsehood or cause of action based on wrongful conduct — Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic), ss 5(1)(a), (2), (8), 21 — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic), s 36 — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), r 23.05

Equity — Enforceability of gift — Transfer of shares for no consideration — Whether donor completed all actions required to effect transfer

Estoppel — Promissory estoppel — Estoppel by acquiescence or inaction — Transfer of shares — Challenge to validity by non-party to transfer — Whether estopped from challenging validity of transfer

Practice and procedure — Appeal — Leave to withdraw concession on appeal — Whether in interests of justice to re-open issue

Words and phrases — ‘action’ — ‘cause of action’ — ‘declarations of right’

Torts — Negligence — Duty of care — Scope — Football club — Volunteer — Child spectators regularly attending club — Sexual abuse of child by club volunteer — Whether football club owed duty of care to child spectator broader than occupier’s liability — Whether errors in charge to civil jury — Whether duty of care could extend to a risk of sexual abuse by a person for whose actions the football club was not vicariously liable

Damages — Torts — Negligence — Psychiatric injury caused by historical sexual abuse — Jury award — General damages for pain and suffering — Whether award manifestly excessive — Damages for past loss of earnings and loss of earning capacity — Whether award had evidentiary basis — Manner in which damages for loss of earning capacity should be assessed — Indexation of past loss permitted — Discount rate for the calculation of future economic loss — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), r 47.02 — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic), s 14(1), 60, 60(2)(a) — Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic), ss 7, 8, 9 — Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), pt VB, pt VBA, 28C(2)(a), 28LC

Evidence — Admission of statement of deceased witness — Danger of unfair prejudice — Evidence Act 2008 (Vic), ss 63, 135

Counsel — Comments by counsel during closing address to jury

Wills and codicils — Rectification — Testator gave oral instructions to solicitor charged with preparing will — Oral instructions reflected testator’s anterior mistake — Whether will carried out intentions of testator — Whether will failed to give effect to testator’s instructions — Whether clerical error — Wills Act 1997 (Vic), s 31(1)

Words and phrases — ‘clerical error’

Negligence — Duty of care — Psychiatric injury — Attempted suicide by employee — Co-worker Witnessed aftermath of attempted suicide — Employee who had attempted suicide no longer at scene of incident — Whether employee attempting suicide owed duty of care to co-worker to take reasonable care to avoid co-worker sustaining psychiatric injury from witnessing the aftermath of the attempt — County Court Civil Procedure Rules 2018 (Vic), r 47.04

Criminal law — Practice and procedure — Proper venue for trial — Murder — Location of commission of offence — Nexus to constituent events — Role of ‘terminatory theory’ — Whether location of offence as framed on indictment determinative of proper venue for trial — Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic), ss 169, 192, 199 — Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), s 9 — Constitution (Cth), s 80

Words and phrases — ‘place where the offence is alleged to have been committed’

Criminal law — Appeal — Sentence — Workplace manslaughter — Negligent operation of forklift causing death of employee — Corporate employer convicted of offence — Imposition of fine on company — Likely incapacity of company to pay — Whether sentence manifestly inadequate — Whether sentence failed to reflect objective gravity of offence — Whether sufficient weight given to general deterrence

Criminal law — Appeal — Sentence — Workplace manslaughter — Officer of body corporate in contravention — Sole director of corporate employer convicted of offence — Imposition of community correction order on individual — Whether sentence manifestly inadequate

Building contracts — Security of payment — Retention amount — Claim by builder for amount of money retained by developer in respect of work carried out by builder — Retained money held as security — Whether claim for ‘construction work’ — Whether contracts made express provision for calculation of final payment — Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic), ss 9, 10

Building contracts — Security of payment — Payment claims by builder — No final certificate issued at time of claims — Whether developer permitted to withhold retained money pending issue of final certificate — Whether contractual requirements for issue of final certificate rendered claims invalid — Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic), ss 12, 48

Practice and procedure — Representative proceedings — Application to amend writ and statement of claim to add new defendant, new claims and new group members — Proposed new claims already the subject of a different proceeding — Proposed new claims involved some overlap of group members — Whether proposed new claims arose out of the same or similar facts — Whether proposed amendments abuse of process — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), r 36.01

Limitation of actions — Abrogation of the rule in Weldon v Neal — Relevance of limitations defence to discretion to allow amendment — Whether amendments relate back to date proceeding commenced — Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic), s 34

Practice and procedure — Witnesses — Cross-examination — Plaintiffs sought leave for two counsel retained by plaintiffs to cross-examine expert witness on discrete topics — Whether just and appropriate — Evidence Act 2008 (Vic), ss 26, 27, 29, 41, 192

Wills and codicils — Mutual wills — Husband and wife made wills in substantially mirror form leaving estate to survivor or if no survivor to named beneficiaries — Whether mutual wills agreement

Trusts — Tracing — Deceased inherited share of residuary estate with life interest in income and capital sum passing to applicants upon her death — Expert evidence showing capital sum growing to $900,000 if invested in mixed investment portfolio — No evidence how deceased treated capital sum — Whether basis for tracing to mixed assets in deceased’s estate — Whether basis for application of principle that where fiduciary mixes trust property with their own whole is treated as trust property

Costs — Wills and probate — Order by trial judge for costs of trial to be paid out of deceased estate — Whether error in judge’s order — Litigation traceable to deceased’s breach of mutual wills agreement — Whether reasonableness of unsuccessful party’s conduct of litigation a relevant consideration — Whether size of deceased estate a relevant consideration

Statutory interpretation — Filing of Court document — Appeal to County Court against family violence intervention order — Notice of appeal provided to registry within time but not accepted for filing within time — Appeal struck out on basis that notice of appeal filed out of time — When notice of appeal is ‘filed’ — Whether notice of appeal substantially complied with prescribed form — Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic), s 116 — Magistrates' Court (Family Violence Protection) Rules 2018 (Vic), rr 1.10, 3.02, 14.01 — Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (Vic), s 53

Practice and procedure — Application for leave to appeal — Expired family violence intervention order — Whether proposed appeal had utility

Practice and procedure — Bill of exchange or a promissory note — Writ under the Instruments Act 1958 (Vic) — Application for leave to appear and defend — Time — Instruments Act 1958 (Vic), ss 4, 5

Practice and procedure — Writ under the Instruments Act 1958 (Vic) — Right to enter final judgment — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), r 21.01 — Supreme Court (Miscellaneous Civil Proceedings) Rules 2018 (Vic), r 2.07 — Instruments Act 1958 (Vic), ss 3, 5, 10

Practice and procedure — Default judgment — Interlocutory judgment in default of appearance in respect of delivery of goods or their value to be assessed — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), rr 2.04, 21.03(1)(d), 46.04, 75.05, 75.06

Practice and procedure — Overarching obligations — Appropriate court for recovery of debts — Relatively small claims brought in the Supreme Court when within the jurisdiction of the County Court of Victoria or the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria — Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic)

Practice and procedure — Default judgment — Application for leave to enter judgment in default of appearance — Claim in respect of delivery up of goods or payment of value to be assessed — Whether plaintiff permitted to enter default judgment only for delivery up of goods — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2025 (Vic), rr 21.01, 21.03(1)(d) — Supreme Court (Miscellaneous Civil Proceedings) Rules 2018 (Vic), r 2.07

Costs — Appropriate court for prosecution of claim — Relatively small claim brought in Supreme Court when within jurisdiction of County Court of Victoria — Whether just and appropriate to limit recoverable costs