The High Court has allowed two appeals against a decision of the Full Federal Court on civil penalty provision ranges and the effect of the High Court’s decision early last year in Barbaro v The Queen [2014] HCA 2, in which the Court held that prosecution submissions on appropriate sentencing ranges are merely opinions and not submissions of law. Following unlawful industrial action by the second and third respondent unions, the first respondent, the building industry employment regulator, sought Continue reading →

The High Court has allowed in part an appeal against two decisions of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia relating to the tort of negligence and statutory reductions for contributory negligence. Chadwick suffered catastrophic injuries after being thrown from a car driven by her partner, Allen, who had a blood alcohol reading of 0.22. The Full Court allowed an appeal against the trial judge’s decision to apply a 25 per cent reduction in damages Continue reading →