O7540 Justice

Top judge: courts must prepare for class actions

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 11-Jul-14

There has been an increase in the number of class action suits launched in Australia, in part because of stockholders becoming emboldened by the availability of litigation funding. Victoria is one of the centres for the hearing of such law suits, and Chief Justice Marilyn Warren AC QC has noted that they benefit the local economy by close to $A1bn per annum. She argues that the courts must be equipped to hear these cases in an adequate manner. The experiences gained in the Great Southern class action have been translated into cost savings from a new paperless court room for the Kilmore East bushfire trial

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BENTHAM IMF LIMITED – ASX IMF, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, GREAT SOUTHERN LIMITED, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Lawyer banned over harassment

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Original article by Jane Lee
The Age – Page: 3 : 11-Jul-14

Judge Pamela Jenkins, vice-president of the Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal, has imposed an eight-month practising ban on a lawyer. He had earlier been convicted of sexually harassing a female trainee, and in 2013 was ordered to pay her compensation for loss, damage and injury of $A100,000. An additional penalty announced by Jenkins is that the lawyer not employ or supervise female students or law graduates for a two-year period, starting when he again takes up practice

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VICTORIA. CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

Inquiry into botched kill case

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Original article by Tim Clarke, Amanda Banks
The West Australian – Page: 5 : 10-Jul-14

Western Australian Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan has requested a Corruption & Crime Commission investigation into the conduct of some officers in Broome. Attorney-General Michael Mischin also wants to be briefed on the issue by the Director of Public Prosecutions, after a murder charge had to be downgraded to manslaughter and the accused was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser crime. The Supreme Court ruled that the police officers had repeatedly breached the law when they interviewed the suspect

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WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POLICE SERVICE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Judge says child abuse like gay sex

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Original article by Louise Hall
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 1 : 10-Jul-14

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal judges Arthur Emmett, Derek Price and Elizabeth Fullerton have not yet ruled on an application by Crown prosecutor Sally Dowling SC. She wants District Court judge Garry Neilson to be replaced in the case of a man who has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent. The accused had sexually abused his sister as a child and again when she was an adult. Neilson argued that a jury may nowadays see the latter as no longer unnatural, and likened incest to homosexuality. The Adults Surviving Child Abuse group has condemned the comments

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DISTRICT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL (NEW SOUTH WALES), ADULTS SURVIVING CHILD ABUSE

Bank repossesses bikie clubhouse

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Original article by Chris Vedelago
The Age – Page: 12 : 10-Jul-14

A writ has been filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, for the repossession of a property in London Drive, Bayswater. It is the clubhouse of the Immortals outlaw motorcycle gang, which has allegedly defaulted on $A117,000 worth of business loans at an interest rate of 8.3%-plus. The premises, searched by Victoria Police in 2013, house a licensed bar and are the venue of Immortals fund raising activities such as its annual Fancy Dress Schoolgirls Festival

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COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, IMMORTALS MOTORCYCLE CLUB, BANDIDOS MOTORCYCLE CLUB AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, VICTORIA POLICE

‘Blackmail’ worked, says Boral

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Original article by Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 10-Jul-14

Concrete supplier Boral has accused the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union of blackmail. On 9 July 2014, Boral CEO Mike Kane told the Royal Commission Into Trade Union Governance & Corruption that the union threatened contractors and created a cartel on Melbourne building sites. He said that the criminal conspiracy was effective, with Boral’s profits falling by nearly $A6 million since the boycott was launched. Kane said that he expects the inquiry to refer his allegations to Victoria Police

CORPORATES
BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, VICTORIA POLICE, GROCON PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION

Concerns over mentally ill accessing euthanasia sites

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Original article by Kate Hagan
The Age – Page: 8 : 8-Jul-14

Formal complaints are set to be lodged by mental depression awareness charities Black Dog Institute and beyondblue against medical doctor Philip Nitschke and the web sites he maintains. He had helped a Perth man, who was a suspect in his wife’s death, access a drug to commit suicide. Nitschke’s stance that he had no obligation to refer the 45-year-old to a general practitioner or psychiatrist has been criticised by the Australian Medical Association and by Victorian voluntary euthanasia advocate Rodney Syme

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EXIT INTERNATIONAL, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, BEYOND BLUE LIMITED, BLACK DOG INSTITUTE INCORPORATED

Banks settle case with liquidators of ABC

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Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 21 : 8-Jul-14

The liquidators of ABC Learning Centres have reached an in-principle settlement with a syndicate of banks. The compromise was reached just before the case against the lenders was to be heard in the Federal Court of Australia. Bentham IMF was meant to argue that the banks "jumped the creditors’ queue". Child care facilities operator ABC Learning Centres collapsed in November 2008, with debts of $A1.6 billion

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BENTHAM IMF LIMITED – ASX IMF, ABC LEARNING CENTRES LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Labor proposes cannabis relief for very ill

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The West Australian – Page: 6 : 7-Jul-14

The Australian Labor Party’s state conference in Western Australia (WA) on 6 July 2014 heard from leader Mark McGowan on the medicinal use of cannabis. He pledged to introduce legal reform if elected, which would mean terminally or chronically ill patients can be prescribed tablets or sprays to help them manage pain and other symptoms. While Premier Colin Barnett had in 2009 also backed such use of cannabis, WA Health Minister Kim Hames has now rejected McGowan’s push. The Australian Medical Association in WA believes more research is needed first

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (WESTERN AUSTRALIA), WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Bikie trucking firms rip off millions

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Original article by Noel Towell
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 6 : 7-Jul-14

Australian Federal Police and Australian Taxation Office (ATO) investigators are unhappy that no criminal charges are being laid against outlaw motorcycle gang members accused of illegally gaining diesel fuel rebates. An associate of the Hells Angels allegedly controlled an accounting firm that lodged the false rebate claims, for trucking firms that either did not exist or vastly overstated the number of trips they made. While no criminal prosecution is underway, the ATO has launched a civil case in the Federal Court to recover some of the funds it paid out

CORPORATES
HELLS ANGELS MOTORCYCLE CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA