Australian case library

Standard of proof on appeal — appellate court must be satisfied jury verdict was reasonably open.

Specific intent: foresight of consequence is not the same as intention.

Criminal Code 'slavery' offence: rights of ownership exercised over a person.

Honest and reasonable mistake of fact in statutory rape — Proudman v Dayman applied.

Manslaughter by criminal negligence — gross-negligence threshold.

Provocation — ordinary-person test for loss of self-control.

Procedural fairness in jury direction — assumed essential elements not to be withdrawn.

Importation offence — knowledge of the substance required.

Statutory presumption of mens rea — strict liability requires clear legislative intent.

No general duty on host to prevent intoxicated patron driving home.

Standard of care for inexperienced drivers — single standard regardless of skill.

Risk and warning duties for public authorities — prospective characterisation.

Vicarious liability for intentional torts of teachers — non-delegable duty boundaries.

Pure mental harm — no requirement of sudden shock or normal fortitude.

Privacy as equitable confidence — door left open to a tort of invasion of privacy.

Multifactorial / salient-features approach to novel duty of care.

Calculus of negligence — magnitude × probability vs burden of precaution.

Neighbour principle — duty of care foundation, adopted across Australian common law.

Quantum meruit capped by contract price after repudiation — reins in unjust enrichment.

Penalties — commercial test for stipulated remedies vs genuine pre-estimate.

Penalties doctrine survives in equity beyond breach of contract.

Signed-document rule — signatory bound regardless of having read the terms.

Objective theory of contractual interpretation — whose meaning, what reasonable person.

Construction of contractual discretions — implication of good faith.

Restraint of trade — confidentiality clauses must protect a legitimate interest.

Restitution — quantum meruit grounded in unjust enrichment, not implied contract.

Frustration and admissibility of surrounding circumstances — Mason J's true rule.

Easement construction — Torrens register is the source, no extrinsic evidence.

Caveat priority — purchaser bound by writ-of-execution registered before completion.

Native title is a bundle of rights — extinguishment must be examined right by right.

Crown 'property' in fauna does not extinguish indigenous rights to take fauna.

Pastoral leases do not necessarily extinguish native title.

Native title recognised at common law; rejection of terra nullius.

Forgery and indefeasibility — qualified rights of registered proprietor against innocent third party.

Personal-equity exception to indefeasibility under Torrens.

Resulting trust where parties contribute unequally to purchase price.

Indefeasibility of title under Torrens — registered proprietor takes free of unregistered interests.

Proprietary estoppel — reliance on assurance presumed once shown to be material.

Equitable subrogation — guarantor's right to surety stands independent of contract.

Auditors and fiduciary duty — narrow scope where contract defines the relationship.

Proprietary estoppel — court may impose constructive trust as the minimum equity.

Doctor-patient relationship — fiduciary duties have proscriptive, not prescriptive, scope.

Equitable estoppel — single doctrine, detriment proportionate to relief.

Promissory estoppel as a sword — cause of action in equity, not just defence.

Fiduciary duties in commercial context — undertaking to act in another's interest.

No-profit rule — fiduciary liable to account for any unauthorised profit (cited extensively in AU).

Materiality of error — JE only when decision could realistically have been different.

Offshore detainees entitled to procedural fairness when officers exercise a statutory power.

Privative clauses do not oust constitutionally entrenched judicial review for jurisdictional error.

Jurisdictional error — decision affected by JE has no legal effect ab initio.

Procedural fairness — denial gives rise to constitutional writs.

Beneficial reading of administrative reasons — court does not parse forensically.

Definition of jurisdictional error — categories for inferior courts and tribunals.

Common-law duty of natural justice unless clearly excluded by statute.

Procedural fairness presumed in statutory decisions affecting individual rights and interests.

Workplace protests legislation invalid — implied freedom proportionality applied.

Offshore detention — statutory authorisation valid under s 61 executive power.

Implied freedom of political communication — three-stage proportionality test.

Executive spending requires legislative authority outside narrow categories.

Implied right to vote derived from ss 7 and 24 — limits on prisoner disenfranchisement.

Implied freedom of political communication — defamation defence reformulated.

State courts must be compatible with Ch III institutional integrity.

Section 92 — interstate trade must be free of discriminatory burdens of a protectionist kind.

Defence power limits — Parliament cannot recite its way into a power.

Discovery from Crown — Palace letters held to be Commonwealth records.

Abuse of process — relitigation standards in commercial litigation.

Anshun estoppel — preclusion of issues that should have been raised.

Late amendments require justification — case management and overall justice.

LPP not abrogated except by clear statutory words.

Waiver of privilege — inconsistency between conduct and confidentiality.

Legal professional privilege — dominant-purpose test replaces sole-purpose.

Liberal amendment approach — overruled by Aon, but landmark for context.

Appellate review of discretion — error must be of kind set out in House.

Tendency in single-complainant sexual offences — joint trial admissibility.

Tendency in sexual offences — striking similarity not always required.

Tendency / coincidence evidence — significant probative value standard.

Specialised knowledge — anatomical comparison evidence excluded under s 79.

Opinion evidence — the rule against opinion is not relaxed for ambulance officers.

Covert recordings of suspect — admissibility under Evidence Act ss 138, 139.

Identification — police identification of accused from CCTV not relevant.

Confessions — voluntariness, reliability, fairness, public-policy discretion.

Discretionary exclusion of improperly obtained evidence — public-interest balancing.

Directors' liability for company conduct — sole director-shareholder arrangements.

Director receiving payment in personal capacity — fiduciary scope.

Directors' duties to creditors of insolvent companies — Bell case principles.

Directors' statutory duty of care — board minutes evidentiary value.

Directors must read and understand financial statements personally.

Care and diligence under s 180 — non-executive director responsibilities.

Director conflicts and improper use of position — landmark on related-party transactions.

Capital reduction — protection of creditors and shareholder classes.

Separate legal personality — foundation of corporate law (universally cited in AU).

Advocate's immunity narrowed — does not extend to negligent advice ending in consent orders.

Advocate's immunity reaffirmed for in-court conduct intimately connected to litigation.

Successive representation — duty of loyalty to former clients.

Solicitor candour and integrity — strike-off for serious dishonesty.

Right to fair trial — court may stay prosecution where accused unrepresented.

Prosecutorial duty — fairness to accused requires disclosure of relevant material.

Barristers' immunity from suit — public-policy basis (later qualified).

Fitness to practise — disqualification standard for criminal conviction.

Counsel's duty to client and court — disclosure must respect privilege.