The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal brought by Mr Croghan, holding that the ordinary rule as to costs does not apply in compulsory acquisition proceedings, and that it was not appropriate in the circumstances to apply the usual rule as to costs that applies when an offer of compromise has not been accepted.
State of New South Wales v Shepherd [2019] NSWCA 261
Appeals: adequacy of reasons; procedural fairness
The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal brought by the State of New South Wales, and ordered a new trial of civil proceedings brought by Mr Shepherd against the State, holding that the primary judge had erred in failing to provide reasons to support his finding on the critical issue in the proceedings, and had made that finding in the absence of evidence to support it.
Western Union Business Solutions (Australia) Pty Ltd v Robinson [2019] FCAFC 181
Industrial law: adverse action; mental disability; incapacity to work
The Full Court of the Federal Court has allowed an appeal brought by an employer, holding that the primary judge erred in holding that the employer’s decision to dismiss an employee on the basis of a lack of capacity to return to work amounted to (unlawful) dismissal on the basis of the employee’s mental disability.
Civil procedure: limitation periods; statutory discretion to extend time
The Queensland Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal brought by Ms Kaur, holding that the primary judge erred in his exercise of the discretion to extend the time in which she could bring personal injury proceedings in relation to a motor vehicle accident because the primary judge erroneously made ‘conscientious compliance with pre-court steps’ a precondition of the exercise of the discretion.
The Court of Appeal of New Zealand has allowed an appeal brought by a man subject to an extended supervision order, declaring that it was not lawful for the Department of Corrections and a NGO contracted by the Department to monitor the man 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Privacy: inherent powers of courts; non-disclosure
The Court of Appeal of New Zealand has dismissed an appeal brought by the Crown, holding that the High Court did not err in the exercise of its inherent power to control its own processes when it made orders in proceedings concerning historical abuse in state care that had the effect of requiring relevant government agencies to seek the Court’s leave before sharing information with each other where that information was obtained in the proceedings.
Routier and another v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2019] UKSC 43
Succession: inheritance tax; relationship between UK law and EU law
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has allowed an appeal brought by the executors of a will, holding that for the purposes of art 56 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, Jersey was a ‘third country’ with respect to the UK, and art 56 therefore required that UK tax authorities extend the benefit of an exemption on inheritance tax to a gift to a charitable trust contained in the will in question.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has allowed an appeal brought by a District Judge, holding that EU law required that she be able to claim the protection of the whistle-blower protections in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (UK).
