In Brief – News and Current Affairs

Judicial Appointments

On 16 April 2010, the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, The Hon Cameron Dick MP,announced that Her Excellency, The Governor-in-Council has appointed the Hon Justice Margaret White to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Queensland.

The Attorney-General also announced that the Governor-in-Council had approved the appointment of Mr Wayne Cochrane as a full-time permanent member of the Land Court and Mr Bill Isdale as a full-time acting member of the Land Court for a period of two years.

Please see elsewhere is this issue to read the speech delivered by Richard Douglas S.C., President of the Bar Association of Queensland at the swearing-in ceremony of the Land Court appointments.

Magistracy Appointments

Members are advised that Ms Jane Bentley (Cairns), Mr Terry Duroux (Southport) and Mr Cameron Press (Rockhampton) have been appointed Magistrates.   The swearing-in ceremony was held 29 April 2010 in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.

Supervised Cases List

Richard Douglas S.C., President wishes to bring to the attention of  members the following communication received from the Senior Judge Administrator, The Hon Justice Byrne RFD:

Members ought note the changes.   The Association is indebted to Justice Daubney for the significant workload he has borne, for three years, managing the supervised cases list.  In that time, the average number of managed cases on the list has doubled.

PHOTOCOPY QUALITY!

A recent exchange in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal between Counsel and our judicial member Deputy President Hack SC  reveals, at least on its face, that judicial pique can be raised by poor quality photocopying.

The exchange was transcribed as follows:

THE D.PRESIDENT:  Yes.  Using those sh*t photocopies again.

I am informed that a review by Auscript reveals that the adjective  used by the Deputy President to describe the photocopies was in fact “cheap”, not that attributed in the above transcript extract.

The comment, all the same, is salutary.

Lawyers Beyond Borders

Australian Volunteers International (AVI) launched their new program, Lawyers Beyond Borders (LBB) in Queensland, with the support of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Clayton Utz on Thursday, 20 May 2010.

Lawyers Beyond Borders is committed to connecting Australia’s legal community with legal professionals and organisations in developing countries to assist with promoting good governance, strengthening legal and judicial systems and increasing community access to legal services and programs.

QUT Executive Dean of Law The Hon. Professor Michael Lavarch welcomed the launch of Lawyers Beyond Borders in Queensland at a time when a global legal communities must work together to address issues of human rights and corruption.

TC Beirne School of Law – Annual McPherson Lecture Series: The Role and Duties of Australian Company Directors: a Restatement – 24, 25 and 26 May 2010

Professor Ross Grantham, Dean of Law, TC Beirne School of Law, invites you to the Annual McPherson Lecture Series, The Role and Duties of Australian Company Directors: a Restatement to be held at the Banco Court, Supreme Court of Queensland from 24 to 26 May 2010. Professor Robert P Austin, Adjunct Professor and Challis Lecturer in Corporate Law, University of Sydney (formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales) will present three lectures which will address three broad issues. He will inject into these perspectives on: the  function of the corporate board; the traditional exposition of conflicts of interest and improper use of position and information; good faith and improper purposes; care and diligence; and insolvent trading.

Mon 24 May: Company directors and the fiduciary idea. Tues 25 May:  Directors’ duties in a transactional setting. Wed 26 May:  Directors’ duties in a financial setting.

For further information please visit: www.law.uq.edu.au/mcpherson

Junior Bar Criminal Law Advocacy Course – Expressions of Interest – 27 May 2010

The Bar Association invites expressions of interest from members of the junior bar for this new criminal law advocacy skills program. Attendance at the entire course will accrue your total CPD requirements for the 2010/2011 CPD year.   The program will provide opportunities to hone your advocacy skills. The format will include lectures and role plays by senior counsel, small and large group discussions, opportunities to practise a variety of oral advocacy skills and receive supportive feedback from experienced senior counsel including DVD reviews.   The program will be conducted over four Saturdays: I     17 July – Pre Committal including macro and micro case analysis  II    31 July – Cross Examination at Committal  III   21 August – Pre Trial including evidentiary matters IV   11 September – Trial    Places in the course are limited to people with some prior experience of criminal law up to 10 years call. Given the commitment of the coaching faculty and the limited number of places available those who receive a place on the course must be committed to attending each session.     CPD Points: Attendance at all sessions will accrue 10 CPD points including Ethics and Advocacy Strands.   Coaches: The coaching faculty will comprise senior barristers, District Court Judges and Magistrates.    Registration Fee:  The cost for the course is $275.00 (inc. GST) and covers all course materials, morning teas, lunches and your performance DVDs. The course registration fee will be required full by 17 June.  No refunds or partial refunds will be available however substitutions may be allowed.    Applications:  An information session will be held to outline the program and your participation.     Information Session Details: Time and Date:  5.15pm – 5.45pm Thursday 27 May 2010 Venue: Common Room, Level 5 Inns of Court,107 North Quay   RSVP:  Please email your expression of interest to celeste@qldbar.asn.au by 19 May 2010.  Teleconference for the Information Session will be available for regional members.

Competition Law Conference – 29 May 2010

Chris Hodgekiss SC of the NSW Bar is the convenor of the annual Competition Law Conference which will take place at the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney on 29 May 2010. The conference comprises four sessions covering important recent developments in competition and consumer law:

• Recent Developments in Market Definition
• Current Issues on the ACCC’s Radar
• The Riddle Underlying Refusal-to-Deal Theory
• The Australian Consumer Law – Is it really a new era of consumer protection?

To request a registration form contact Mr Chris Hodgekiss – chodgekiss@optusnet.com.au or telephone (02) 9235 0083.

CPD 11 – Charitable Trusts – Philanthropy – a fad that’s here to stay? – 3 June 2010

Tim Hardy, Head of Client Philanthropy, National Australia Trustees, will be the presenter and Michael Stewart S.C. will chair CPD Seminar 11, Charitable Trusts – Philanthropy – a fad that’s here to stay?, which will take place in the Bar Association Common Room on 3 June 2010. For more information and to register, please email cpd@qldbar.asn.au.

Access to Constitutional Justice Symposium – 4 June 2010

Sir Anthony Mason AC KBE will deliver the opening address at the Bond University Centre for Law, Governance and Public Policy Symposium – Access to Constitutional Justice which will take place on 4 June 2010.The topics covered are:

• Standing rules and access to to consitutional justice
• Amici Curiae and access to constitutional justice
• Advisory opinions and access to constitutional justice
• Costs rules and access to constitutional justice
• US perspectives on access to constitutional justice

For more information, contact the Centre Administrator – centre@lawgovpubpol.bond.edu.au or telephone 5595 2087.

 TC Beirne School of Law – Current Legal Issues Seminar 2010

Current Legal Issues is a new series of seminars which commenced in 2009. The series seeks to bring together leading scholars, practitioners and members of the Judiciary in Queensland and from abroad, with a view to:

• providing a forum for the critical analysis and discussion of current legal issues; • bringing to bear upon those issues the different perspectives offered by leading members of the Academy, profession and Judiciary; • forging stronger links between academic and practising lawyers in Queensland.

Each seminar will comprise a chair, speaker, and commentator. The chair will introduce the speaker and commentator. A paper will then be presented by a leading practising or academic lawyer, and will be subject to a brief, expert commentary.  Subsequent debate and contributions from the floor will be facilitated by the chair. Seminar papers will be available in advance at www.law.uq.edu.au/current-legal-issues-series, a website hosted by the University of Queensland.

10 June 2010: “Causation in the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth)”

Speaker: Mr Liam Kelly S.C.

Commentator:  Professor Jane Stapleton, Australian National University

Chair: The Hon. Justice Peter Applegarth, Supreme Court of Queensland

15 July 2010: “The Meaning of ‘Market’ in the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth)”

Speaker: Mr Glenn Owbridge, Australian Government Solicitor Brisbane

Commentator: Professor Stephen Corones, Queensland University of Technology

Chair: The Hon. Justice Andrew Greenwood, Federal Court of Australia

9 September 2010: “Aspects of the law of damages”

Speaker:Professor Sarah Derrington, University of Queensland

Commentator: Mr G.A. Thompson S.C.

Chair: The Hon. Justice Richard Chesterman RFD, Court of Appeal

14 October 2010: “Sentencing in the context of a sentencing advisory council”

Speaker: Professor Arie Freiburg AM, Monash University

Commentator: The Hon. Chief Justice Paul de Jersey AC, Chief Justice of Queensland

Chair: Mr Anthony Moynihan S.C., Director of Public Prosecutions, Queensland

Practical Implications of the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction Reform and Modernisation Amendment Bill for criminal lawyers – Seminar – 15 June 2010

The Queensland Law Society and the Bar Association of Queensland present a Practical Implications of the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction Reform and Modernisation Amendment Bill for criminal lawyers seminar which will take place at the Queensland Law Society on 15 June 2010.

Recently introduced to Parliament on 13 April 2010, the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction Reform and Modernisation Amendment Bill is in response to the Moynihan Review. The Bill proposes to:

• expand the Magistrates Court jurisdiction to encompass indictable offences previously falling within the jurisdiction of the District Court
• modify summary elections
• change the manner of prosecution disclosure
• introduce case conferencing and restrict the use of committal hearings

This seminar provides criminal law practitioners with practical guidance on how these changes will affect the running of criminal matters, focussing entirely on the practice and procedure implications of the Bill.

Program highlights to include:

• analysis of the proposed legislation presented by barrister, Peter Davis SC and Gilshenan and Luton partner, Glen Cranny
• discussion by agencies and stakeholders on the procedures and processes they will be adopting in response to the changes
• practical guidance for criminal defence lawyers on conducting criminal cases in the future and a discussion of the types of problematic issues which may arise

For more information, visit http://www.qls.com.au or telephone 3842 5907.

AAL Roundtable – Trends in the National Legal Profession: Competing Tensions in Effective Regulation – 21 June 2010

The Australian Academy of Law has organised a roundtable of presentations and discussion on these important issues as they have been brought into focus by the work of the National Legal Profession Reform Taskforce of the Council of Australian Governments. The event will take place in the Banco Court on 21 June 2010.

A panel of distinguished speakers will address the latest state of play. After an introduction by one of the panellists to that state of play, each member of the panel will give a presentation, after which there will be an opportunity for discussion among members of the panel and with members of the audience.

The members of the panel will be • The Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, Chief Justice of Queensland • Ms Louise Glanville, National Legal Profession Reform Taskforce • Mr Glenn Ferguson, President, Law Council of Australia • Dr Francesca Bartlett, Lecturer in Legal Ethics, TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland

The moderator of the panel will be Mr John Briton, Queensland Legal Services Commissioner.

Material from the Taskforce and on its work is available at http://www.ag.gov.au/legalprofession (see particularly the links under ‘Consultation Package’).

To register as a member of the audience for the roundtable, please email rsvp to: aal@law.anu.edu.au

Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference – 27 & 28 August 2010

The 3rd national Access to Justice and Pro Bono conference will take place in Brisbane on 27 and 28 August 2010. This conference will bring together lawyers, policy makers, academics and law students and will cover key issues in the area of access to justice including the case for funding the legal assistance sector, identification of gaps in legal need and improving coordination across the sector.   Sessions will be in four streams, criminal justice, pro bono, civil and family law, and topics will include:

• Legal Aid funding — why is it important to the criminal justice system?
• Achieving focus and depth — building unique and innovative pro-bono models
• Issues arising from the Moynihan review of the civil and criminal justice system in Queensland and the Law Reform Commission proposals
• Barriers to criminal justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Pro bono in the Asia Pacific region
• Child protection
• Coordinating the legal response to natural disasters

The conference will feature many prominent local, national and international speakers such as:

• The Hon Robert McClelland, Commonwealth Attorney-General
• Glenn Ferguson, President, Law Council of Australia
• Esther Lardent, President and Chief Executive Officer, US Pro Bono Institute

For more information and to register, please visit www.a2j10.com.au

 5th ABA Residential Advanced Trial Advocacy Course – 17 to 21 January 2011

Registration for the fifth ABA Residential Advanced Trial Advocacy Course to be held in Melbourne from 17 to 21 January 2011 is now open. Places in the course are limited to people with seniority of at least two years at the private Bar. The coaching faculty will comprise top senior Australian and international barristers, judges and performance coaches. The course provides an opportunity for barristers to develop their advocacy skills by preparing a case and experimenting with a number of styles of performance to see which is the most effective for that advocate on that occasion.

For more information please contact Chris D’Aeth, ph. (02) 9229 1712 or email cdaeth@nswbar.asn.au.

NSW Court of Appeal – Webpage Launch

The New South Wales Court of Appeal has recently established and launched a webpage.

A link to the webpage can be found on the New South Wales Supreme Court website under the heading “Information and services available on this website” on the Supreme Court homepage or going to: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/Supreme_Court/ll_sc.nsf/pages/SCO_ca

The webpage aims to do the following things:

•    provide easy access to information on the practice and procedure of the New South Wales Court of Appeal;

•    provide information on status of current NSW Court of Appeal cases including listing the legal issues in cases reserved by the court and the status of cases before the High Court of Australia;

•    provide a research tool for Australian and overseas practitioners, in particular by providing links to civil decisions of interest from Australian and overseas jurisdictions;

•    facilitate understanding of current civil jurisprudence from intermediate courts of appeal throughout Australasia.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

1. The professional indemnity policies being offered for the financial year 2010/11 to Barristers in Queensland by the following companies have been approved pursuant to the Legal Profession Act 2007:

  Suncorp Contact:  Ross Kildey                 Ph:  (07) 3135 4319    Fax:  (07) 3031 2096                 Brian Readdy                 Ph:  (07) 3135 4316    Fax:  (07) 3031 2096   Marsh Contact:  Leanne Hodgins                 Ph:  (07) 3115 4541    Fax:  (07) 3839 9376                 Tabatha Gryl                 Ph:  (07) 3115 4541 Fax:  (07) 3839 9376   2. The Bar Association is not the agent for any of the above companies.  No member of the Bar Association Council or any Association employee is authorised to provide any information about any of the policies.  Please note that it is the responsibility of each Barrister to satisfy himself or herself as to the content of the policies on offer, the terms and conditions, and the premium applicable to them.  The Bar Association is unable to provide any advice as to the merits of the policies or an individual’s premium.  Apart from the matter in  paragraph 3 below, the Bar Association does not make any representations or provide any warranties by approving these policies.

3. A Barrister who maintains cover under one of the policies referred to above for a minimum amount of $1.5 million for the financial year 2010/11 satisfy the requirements of the Legal Profession Act 2007 so far as professional indemnity insurance is concerned and will, providing all other requirements are met, be entitled to hold a Practising Certificate.   Water Police

Counsel applied successfully to the Court of Appeal for the admission of a police officer to the legal profession in Queensland.  He was in plain clothes.

After the admissions Counsel, in full paraphernalia including red bag and full bottom wig, made his way with the client to the lights at the Adelaide Street intersection. There was a crowd waiting and counsel lost the client temporarily. Suddenly someone behind counsel said “Is that your Santa Claus suit?” Counsel said “Yes, but it’s a long time until Christmas”. The speaker then said “Here, have some water from the Watermark Hotel” pouring water on counsel’s wig. Counsel was nonplussed.

At that moment counsel’s police officer client emerged, produced his police identification and said to the pourer “I will ask the gentleman if he wishes to make a complaint of assault”. Counsel said “No, not at this stage”. The pourer must have given a faint smile as the police officer said, “And wipe that smile off your face or you’ll be down at the Watch House quick smart”. The pourer then became very attentive, people standing around were transfixed, and Counsel and client left them and crossed with the lights.

MORAL: NOT ALL POLICE OFFICERS ARRIVE LATE; SOME ARRIVE RIGHT ON TIME.

Call for Test Case to Protect Koalas

A QUT law academic has called for a test case to be brought under legislation enacted in the early 1990s to save the habitat of koalas and other endangered and threatened animals from the ravages of development.

QUT senior law lecturer Alastair MacAdam said the Department of Environment and Resource Management should use section 88 of the Nature Conservation Act 1992 to prevent developers from destroying koala corridors and the habitats of other animals by clear-felling, broadacre land for new housing estates.

He said the meaning of the word “take” in section 88(2) of the Act which holds that “a person must not take a protected animal” must be tested.

“In the US there is a Supreme Court ruling that ‘take’ is not restricted to physically removing an animal it also includes harming the habitat of a species,” Mr MacAdam said.

“It would appear that in our legislation the words with which ‘take’ is associated seem to be designed to give a wide measure of protection and is, therefore, open to an identical interpretation as that given by the US Supreme Court in 1995 and should be tested.

“The department’s failure to test this clause allows developers to remove koalas and relocate them instead of leaving a corridor of trees so they can safely move between food trees.

“Although the decision of the US Supreme Court is not strictly binding on Queensland courts because it comes from another jurisdiction, it would be a highly persuasive decision and in my view it will almost certainly be followed by Queensland courts.”

Mr MacAdam brought and won a 1970s case to protect local bushland that has since become a reserve.

He said the Act’s defence for the “taking” of a protected animal was that it could “not have been reasonably avoided”.

“The complete destruction of habitat can reasonably be avoided. But everyone is passing the buck so that it looks as if the developers are calling the shots,” Mr MacAdam said.

“The State Government takes the line that if a development is approved by a local council it cannot be overridden. That is not correct. All approvals must comply with the laws of Queensland including section 88.” Mr MacAdam said the Government had brought back the old Bjelke-Petersen era power of “ministerial rezoning” except it was now termed “call-in powers” whereby the government takes over the planning process from local authorities and courts and has it done by the Co-ordinator General, a government official.

“The Government seems to be prepared to use these powers principally for the benefit of developers but won’t use its clear powers under section 88 to protect endangered animals and their environment. Mr MacAdam said he was not against development.

“What I am concerned about is Government taking the easy ‘relocation’ option. As I understand it, koala experts say that once koalas are relocated they try to return to their original area which, if it has been clear-felled, leaves them with no option but to cross roads and be run over or travel on exposed ground and fall prey to dogs and other predators.”

Court Network  – New Executive Director

Court Network has appointed a new Executive Director, Deborah Di Natale who commenced with the organisation on 8 February 2010 coming from a background in Law and not-for-profit organisations in Victoria. On 25 February 2010, Deborah attended the Queensland office alongside Court Network’s Board President, Barbara Rozenes and Vice-President Magistrate Brian Barrow to meet with Chief Judge Patsy Wolfe, Chief Justice Paul de Jersey and Chief Magistrate Brendan Butler all of whom were unanimous in their praise of the work performed by the Court Network volunteers and staff.

The decision to continue to move into the North and Far North Courts (Townsville and Cairns) has been ratified by the Board.

Established in 1980, Court Network is a unique court support service operating throughout Victoria and Brisbane. The Queensland team celebrated its 3rd birthday in December 2009.

Information, support and referral services are provided by over 400 trained volunteers supporting:

• victims of crime

• people accused of crime

• families, adults and children who attend court and require support

• adults and children who have been violated or exploited by crime; and

• litigants who have little or no support.

Court Network is the only court based service explicitly and solely concerned with the need of court users. For more information, call Queensland Court Network on 1800 267 671, email brisbane@courtnetwork.com.au or visit www.courtnetwork.com.au

The Joys of Lotteries

A recent Ontario case is attracting some attention for the judge’s plain-spoken approach: