Most people – and hopefully all lawyers – will be familiar with the idea that criminal allegations must (ordinarily) be proved beyond reasonable doubt, whereas matters in a civil dispute need only be proved on the balance of probabilities. But what about cases which are not criminal, but involve serious allegations of wrongdoing? This often …
Continue reading “J’accuse: but to the civil standard of proof”
The entry below was originally published in (May 2015) 89(5) Law Institute Journal 34. My thanks go to the Law Institute of Victoria for permitting me to republish it here. Abstract The law of restitution and unjust enrichment has been heavily influenced by academic commentary. However, the High Court has repeatedly stated that concepts such …
Continue reading “Unjust enrichment: unifying concept or cause of action?”
The statutory demand process is a familiar one to those who practise in insolvency and debt-collection. Section 459E of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) provides, inter alia, as follows: (1) A person may serve on a company a demand relating to: (a) a single debt that the company owes to the person, that is due …
Continue reading “Can a statutory demand be served on an incorporated association?”
This little corner of the law is in a state of flux. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to be authoritatively resolved by the High Court any time soon, as it tends to come up relatively rarely in the decided cases. I think this is because many claims that might be capable of being pleaded as claims …
Continue reading “What is the tort of interference with contractual relations?”
It is often taken for granted that if a litigant is dissatisfied with a decision at the end of a trial or hearing, the litigant has a right of appeal to correct errors in the decision. But a right of appeal only exists if a statute provides for one. It then needs to be ascertained …
Lionel Wirth