In Brief

News, views, Practice Directions, events, forthcoming national and international conferences, CPD seminars and more …

RHSQ Debate: Did Patrick Mayne murder Robert Cox?

The Royal Historical Society of Queensland presents a debate between Rosamond Siemon (author of ‘The Mayne Inheritance’) and Stephen Sheaffe (barrister and historian)

Rosamond Siemon, the author of the controversial book, ‘The Mayne Inheritance, argued that if it was not for a murder and robbery committed by Patrick Mayne on Sunday, 26 March 1848, the University of Queensland would not have been built at St Lucia. She maintains that an innocent man, William Fyfe, was wrongfully hanged for the crime and years later Mayne confessed.

The theme of the book is that Mayne murdered Robert Cox, stole his money and the stolen funds were used as the cornerstone for his massive property empire. The family wealth was gifted to the university so they could acquire the St Lucia land. Was the University of Queensland built on blood money? It is a story of murder, mystery and intrigue.

Stephen Sheaffe, a well known barrister and historian challenges this controversial book, and says it should be classified as a novel and not a work of history. He has examined the statements presented at the 1848 inquest into the murder of Cox and the judge’s notes of the Fyfe murder trial. He argues there is no evidence to support the contention that Mayne confessed to murder and that he murdered Cox.

Did Patrick Mayne murder Robert Cox or is it all myth making with the tragic consequence that the reputations of the most significant benefactors to the university are being impugned, trashed and defamed?

When: Sat May 12th – 1pm to 3.30pm

Venue: Level 2, Auditorium, Sir Llew Edwards Building (14), Cnr University Drive & Campbell Rd, UQ St Lucia campus (Free parking available)

Entry: RHSQ Member $15 Non-member $20

RSVP by Wed 9th May:

RHSQ Tel: 07 3221 4198 or info@queenslandhistory.org.au

Estate Account Assessments & Account Assessors

The Uniform Civil Procedure Amendment Rule (No. 1) 2011 (the Amendment Rule), which was gazetted on 9 December 2011, included amendments which clarify the process for the assessment of ‘estate accounts’ (previously called executors’, administrators’ and trustees’ accounts) prescribed in the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (UCPR).

Assessment of estate accounts

The Amendment Rule replaced the previous Chapter 15, Part 10 of the UCPR with a new Part 10 (Assessment of estate accounts). It includes provisions for:

• clarifying and updating the procedures for applying for the assessment and passing of an estate account;
• guiding the account assessment procedure;
• outlining the powers and functions of an account assessor on assessment;
• the appointment of a costs assessor to assess lawyers’ costs charged to an estate; and
• clarifying and updating the procedure for applying for and awarding of a trustee’s or executor’s commission.

Applications for an estate account assessment under rule 645 or 647 should be in the form of an originating application (Form 5)

Account assessors

The Amendment Rule also inserted into Chapter 15 of the UCPR a new Part 11 (Account assessors) which introduced the concept of account assessors and the minimum eligibility requirements for their appointment, including that they be an Australian legal practitioner who holds specialist accreditation with the Queensland Law Society in the area of succession law.

A person applying for appointment as an account assessor must apply to the Principal Registrar in the approved form (Form 129) and provide a supporting affidavit demonstrating the prescribed criteria.

The Principal Registrar will maintain and publish a current list of appointed account assessors on the Queensland Courts website, which will be viewable at www.courts.qld.gov.au

Forms

The relevant new forms under the UCPR are:

• Form 127 – Notice of objection — Estate Account
• Form 128 – Account Assessor’s Certificate
• Form 129 – Application for appointment as Account Assessor.

The relevant forms can be located at: http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/forms

QUT Faculty of Law Public Lecture

Senator The Hon. Brett Mason will be the guest speaker at the QUT Public Lecture on Wednesday, 2 May 2012. The lecture topic will be “The five things I learned at QUT (that are helping me shape the Coalition’s higher education policy).”

Senator Mason

Born in Canberra, Brett Mason was first elected to the Senate for Queensland in 1998. He is the Shadow Minister for Universities and Research. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from ANU, a Masters in Philosophy from Cambridge University and a PhD from Griffith University. Prior to entering Federal Parliament, Brett worked as barrister and a lecturer in Criminology from the Queensland University of Technology.

Details

When: 6:00p.m. 2 May 2012

Where:  OJW Room, Level 12, S Block, QUT Gardens Point Campus

Accreditation details: 1 CPD point for attendance at this event.

Register here.

Queensland Bar Association Cricket Team

The BAQ cricket team recently participated in the Chief Justice’s Cricket Match on 1 April 2012. Thank you to Roly O’Regan for providing the following photographs taken on the day.

 

 

QPILCH Breakfast with Jennifer Robinson

Across the world, our guest speaker has become one of the most recognisable faces of the WikiLeaks saga. She is passionate about human rights, free speech and journalistic freedom. She is a university medallist, Rhodes Scholar and Oxford graduate. She is an informative and lively speaker who will provide insights into a range of topical issues.

We hope you will join us for this fund-raising breakfast with London-based human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, who continues to advise Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, and is now Director of Legal Advocacy at the Bertha Foundation.

Date: Friday 4 May 2012

Time: 7am for 7.15am to 9am

Venue: The Strand at Rugby Quay, Plaza Level, 123 Eagle Street, Brisbane

Cost: $60.00 per person, $550 for corporate table of 10

RSVP: by Thursday 26 April 2012

Bookings: www.qpilch.org.au

For further information contact:

Kathleen Singleton, Eliquent Business Consulting – ph 3366 4754 or email ksingleton@eliquent.com; or

Karen Kearney, QPILCH – ph 3846 6317 or email referrals@qpilch.org.au  

Commercial and Legal Issues under Long Term Contracts Conference

4 May 2012, The University Club of Western Australia

The conference Commercial and Legal Issues under Long Term Contracts will bring together leading Australian and international speakers to present on the theoretical and practical aspects of contracts of an extended duration.

In circumstances where the Asian economies, particularly China, Japan and India, are anxious for security of supply in relation to commodities, especially in the energy and resources sector, questions as to the operation, nature and effect of long term contracts are of central importance to Western Australia and to Australia as a whole. Commercial lawyers and energy and resource professionals are concerned with issues of a practical and functional nature in the negotiation, documentation and interpretation of long term contracts.

Speakers include:

• The Hon Chief Justice Wayne Martin Supreme Court of WA
• The Hon Justice Finn, Federal Court of Australia
• The Hon President McLure Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of WA
• Professor David Campbell, University of Leeds
• Professor George Triantis Stanford University
• Brahma Dharmanada SC, Francis Burt Chambers

• Francis Douglas QC, Seven Wentworth Chambers

Session Topics include:

• Commercial Considerations
• Drafting of Commercial Terms
• Duties and Liabilities
•  Frustration and Force Majeure
• Remedies
• Competition Law Issues

• Dispute Resolution 

For further details visit the conference website.

Law Week 2012

QLS promises more in store during Law Week

There is an incredible array of activities on offer during Law Week (14-20 May) — and Queensland Law Society is involved in some of the main events.

Brisbane’s sordid past will be exposed for all to see with criminal history tours running for two weeks from 8-17 May.

Various options are available including daytime bus tours with a rare look inside the holding bay of Boggo Road Jail and night time CBD walking tours that offer the tangible experience of shadowing the footsteps of the spirited, sinful and insane.

Queensland Law Society president Dr John de Groot said the tours offered an exciting opportunity to learn some unusual but significant facts about Brisbane.

“There’s always a sort of morbid curiosity that attracts people to learning about these events but they’re an important part of our history,” Dr de Groot said.

“The outcome of a lot of these stories is that they essentially helped to shape the state and the society in which we now live.”

Ticket prices are $30 per person and include the tour, refreshments and an information kit.

People are also welcome to attend a free performance of “A Man for all Seasons” performed by the legal profession at Banco Court on Thursday 17 May, of which Queensland Law Society is a sponsor.

Notable performers include Society president Dr John de Groot, Justice Fryberg, Justice Daubney, Stephen Keim SC, Richard Douglas SC, Steven Hogg (a barrister, and former VP of Queensland Young Lawyers); and Kristin Duff (current VP of Queensland Young Lawyers, and Stephen Mackie (Norton Rose).

Those in Brisbane’s CBD at 7am Tuesday 15 May can keep their eye out for bright (or bleary) eyed legal profession walkers in the QPILCH Walk for Justice. The Society is a major sponsor of this event that aims to raise community awareness about the importance of pro bono legal services and the extensive contribution made by lawyers across the state to these services.

The Society is also hosting its first formal legal profession ball, which despite its Winter Wonderland theme, promises to keep guests cosy and warm with lively conversation and livelier dancing.

Information on all events is available from Queensland Law Society — www.qls.com.au

Caxton Legal Centre – Family Law Volunteers 

Caxton Legal Centre is an independent, non-profit community organisation providing free legal advice, social work services, information and referrals for people who are disadvantaged. Three nights a week we host evening sessions that anyone seeking legal advice can attend.

Caxton’s continuing success is built on the ongoing support and generosity of its 200+ volunteer lawyers. Many of our volunteers are senior lawyers in busy practices who make their time available for the benefit of our clients. Volunteering at Caxton is not only personally satisfying but also an opportunity to work alongside some of Brisbane’s best legal minds.

Caxton is currently seeking lawyers who practice family law to contribute through the evening legal advice sessions. There is a particular need for people with experience advising in family law.

Solicitor and barrister volunteers must: 1.       Have been working for two out of the last three years as a legal practitioner in Australia 2.       Hold a current Practising Certificate or be eligible to apply for a Volunteer Practising Certificate through the Queensland Law Society.

If you are interested in getting involved then please contact: Camielle Donaghey at camielle@caxton.org.au  or on (07) 3214 6333.

QPILCH Walk for Justice

Join us on Tuesday 15 May 2012 for the annual Walk for Justice. The Walk celebrates the work achieved by legal professionals working to promote access to justice in Queensland. The Walk will be lead by The Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Chief Justice of Queensland and involves a 5km circuit, taking in some of Brisbane’s finest scenery followed by breakfast on the lawn of Old Government House. For more information see our events page.

Date: Tuesday 15 May 2012

Starting: 7am, from the Queensland Law Courts Complex. The scenic walk will be followed by a free breakfast on the lawn of Old Government House in QUT sponsored by the Queensland Law Society, the Bar Association of Queensland and QUT Faculty of Law.

To register click here .

LEADR 5 day Mediation Workshop — Brisbane

9-13 October 2012

Dynamic — interactive — experiential — led by Professor Tania Sourdin

The workshop introduces participants to the theory and practical skills of mediation through lectures, demonstrations and simulated sessions in which participants practise the skills taught.  The workshop is designed to provide the participants with:

• an understanding of the mediation process and its philosophy;
• the basic communication skills necessary to participate effectively and constructively in mediation as a party, adviser or mediator;
• an understanding of the barriers to effective communication;
• ability to identify disputes suitable for mediation;
• strategies to generate options and to break impasses;
• practical methods for responding to power and emotional dynamics;
• the basic knowledge from which to develop the skills required of a mediator;

• an opportunity to consider and discuss ethical dilemmas that may arise in mediation.

The workshop meets the education requirements for accreditation under the National Mediator Accreditation Scheme.

38 contact hours for CPD LEADR membership to 30 June 2013

For more information, contact LEADR:1800 651 650; therese@leadr.com.au; www.leadr.com.au

Supreme Court of Queensland Seminar

Saturday 4th August 2012, Banco Court

This seminar is being conducted to mark the opening of the new metropolitan courthouse and is set to be the event for 2012. The seminar represents a wonderful opportunity to attend the first function in the new court building and to listen, learn, mingle at an event to be remembered. CPD accreditation is available for attendance at the seminar, which will be followed by a cocktail reception.

The program features high calibre speakers in a range of interesting sessions:

• The Hon Robert French AC, Chief Justice of Australia – The Courts and Parliament Commentator: Prof Gerard Carney, Dean of Law, University of Queensland Chair: The Hon Paul de Jersey AC, Chief Justice of Queensland

• The Rt Hon the Lord Neuberger, Master of the Rolls – The Common Law: From Every Fountain of Justice Commentator: The Hon Justice Susan Kiefel AC, High Court of Australia Chair: The Hon Justice Margaret McMurdo AC, President

• The Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias GNZM, Chief Justice of New Zealand – Not on Speaking Terms? The Executive and the Courts Commentator: The Hon Patrick Keane, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia Chair: The Hon Justice Margaret White

• The Hon Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma, Chief Justice of Hong Kong – Duties Owed to the Court: Fact, Fiction and Continuing Relevance Commentator: The Hon Marilyn Warren AC, Chief Justice of Victoria Chair: The Hon Justice Duncan McMeekin

• The Rt Hon Lady Justice Hallett DBE, Court of Appeal of England and Wales – The Education of Judges Commentator: The Hon Wayne Martin, Chief Justice of Western Australia Chair: The Hon Justice John Byrne RFD

For further information and registration details click here .