Criminal law - Sentencing - Sexual offences - Incest - Indecent assault - Indecent act with a child under 16 years - Offender sexually abused as a child - Relevance of childhood sexual abuse of offender in sentencing - Principle of totality - Pre-sentence report.

Criminal law - Sentencing - Non-parole period - Pre-sentence detention - Whether sentence manifestly excessive - Sentencing Act 1991 (No 49) ss 13 18.

Criminal law - Murder - Evidence - Admissions - Secretly recorded conversation - Undercover policeman - Motive - Standard of proof - Whether motive must be proved beyond reasonable doubt - Conduct of legal practitioners - Incompetence of counsel - Failure to deal with matter in evidence - Whether tactical decision or mistake - Rule in Browne v Dunn (1893) 6 R 67.

Criminal law - Recklessly causing serious injury - Aiding and abetting - Mental element - Intoxication - Whether direction to jury required - Evidence - Lies by accused - Consciousness of guilt - Sufficiency of direction - Accomplice evidence - Accomplice warning - Corroboration - Causation - Verdict - Whether unsafe or unsatisfactory - Sentence - Whether manifestly excessive - Parity - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 568(1).

Town and country planning - Planning permit - Administrative law - Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - Jurisdiction - Application for use or development of coastal Crown land - Consent of minister required for permit - Statutory deemed refusal of consent - Permit granted by local council - Review of decision to grant permit - Power of tribunal to cure procedural defect - Procedural fairness - Receipt by tribunal of further correspondence and submissions after close of hearing - Whether error vitiated decision - Whether tribunal misapplied planning scheme provisions - Decision on question of law - Tribunal members not legally qualified - Statutory requirement that question of law be decided by legally qualified member - Vitiating error of law - Requirement that tribunal disclose in reasons how question of law decided - Orders, judgments and declarations - Form of order by tribunal - Coastal Management Act 1995 (No 8) ss 37 38 39 40(3) - Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (No 53) ss 51 98 107 Sch 1 cll 62 66(1) - Planning and Environment Act 1987 (No 45) ss 55 61(3) 82AA 85.

Contract - Penalties - Compromise - Settlement of proceeding to enforce foreign judgment - Plaintiff agreeing to accept smaller sum than judgment debt by instalments - Defendant agreeing to judgment for greater sum on default - Whether unenforceable as a penalty.

Criminal law - Procedure - Presentment - Obtaining property by deception - Receiving secret commission - Joinder of counts in one presentment - Nexus between counts - Events occurring over two and a half years - Different onus of proof for different offences - Sentencing - Whether sentence manifestly excessive - Parity - Totality - White collar crime - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 81(1) 176(1) 177 186(2) 371 Sixth Schedule (Presentment Rules).

Criminal law - Sexual offences - Act of sexual penetration with a 17 year old child - Teacher and pupil - Relationship of "care, supervision or authority" - Whether complainant must be under the care, supervision or authority of the accused at the time of penetration - Evidence - Rule in Browne v Dunn (1893) 6 R 67 - Sentence - Whether manifestly excessive - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 48.

Real property - Torrens system - Caveat - Lapse - Evidence - Notice of proposed dealing to caveator - No direct evidence of notice - Evidence of normal Titles Office practice - Post - Prepaid post - Deemed service - Onus of proof - Mortgage - Alteration - Between execution and lodging for registration - Whether alteration authorised by mortgagors - Evidence - Onus of proof - Transfer of Land Act 1958 (No 6399) ss 42(1) 43 90(1) 91(1) 110 113 - Instruments Act 1958 (No 6279) s 126.

Judgments, orders and declarations - Interest - Trust moneys ordered to be paid to plaintiff - Whether plaintiff entitled to interest - Whether plaintiff a "creditor" - Supreme Court Act 1986 (No 110) s 58(1).

Costs - Two defendants - Plaintiff succeeding against one defendant and failing against the other - Plaintiff ordered to pay costs of successful defendant - Unsuccessful defendant ordered to pay "plaintiff's costs of the proceeding" - Whether unsuccessful defendant required to pay successful defendant's costs ordered against plaintiff.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - County Court - Medical panel - Reference of medical question to medical panel - Request for referral by a party - Refusal of party's request for referral - Definition of "medical question" - Definition of "injury" - Whether injury could be subject of a "medical question" when it was no longer an "injury" under the legislation - Aggravation injury - Injury in primary sense - Poorly worded question - Table of maims - Assessment of level of impairment - Evidence - Admissibility - Medical report obtained during trial - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 5 45 67 98 104.

Costs - Courts and judges - Magistrates' Court - Costs order against inferior court - Serious misconduct - Serious impropriety - Failure to observe some fundamental principle of justice - Magistrate's refusal to hear solicitor for accused - Application to magistrate to disqualify himself - Magistrate threatening solicitor with contempt - Proceeding to restrain magistrate from further hearing case - Whether Magistrates' Court liable for costs - Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (No 51) s 14.

Criminal law - Procedure - Costs - Judicial review - Certorari - Conviction for summary offences in Magistrates' Court - Appeal to County Court - Judicial review of County Court decision - Whether error of law on face of record - Adequacy of reasons - Whether a criminal proceeding - Police officer informant named as defendant - Whether Crown a party to the proceeding - Whether jurisdiction in Supreme Court to order costs against plaintiff - Supreme Court Act 1986 (No 110) s 24.

Police - Arrest - Handcuffs.

Trust and trustees - Trust - Superannuation fund - Trust deed - Construction - Total and permanent invalidity benefit - Trustee - Powers - Duties of trustees of superannuation funds.

Criminal law - Sentencing - Community-based order - Breach - Re-sentencing - Natural justice - Procedural fairness - Objective test - Re-sentencing judge's failure to disclose original sentencing remarks - Sentencing Act 1991 (No 49) s 47.

Negligence - Duty of care - Foreseeability - Breach - Causation - Employer and employee - Employer's duty to provide a safe system of work - Employee suffering psychiatric injury after robbery - Damages - Personal injury - Future economic loss - Assessment - Assessment by trial judge alone - Requirement to give reasons - Degree of particularity - "Broadbrush" approach - Appeal - Whether appeal court should re-assess damages.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Death - Injury arising out of or in the course of employment - Deemed employment - Whether worker "temporarily absent ... during any authorised recess" - Meaning of "authorised recess" - Whether employment was "a significant contributing factor" - Injury arising from underlying cause - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 82(2) 83 92.

Courts and judges - Magistrates' Court - Open court - Criminal law - Procedure - Committal proceedings - Hand-up brief - Charge-sheet - Witness statements - Whether media entitled to access to materials in hand-up brief - Power of magistrate to grant access - Register of Magistrates' Court - Magistrates' Court Practice Direction issued by principal registrar - Refusal by magistrate to release materials in hand-up brief - Judicial review - Whether justiciable controversy - Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (No 51) ss 16A 18 20 25 56 125(1) 126 136 Sch 5 - Magistrates' Court Practice Direction 41/98.

Criminal law - Sentencing - Suspension - Imprisonment - Intensive correction order - Breach of terms of suspension - Court required to order that sentence be served - Whether suspended sentence of imprisonment may be ordered, on breach, to be served by way of intensive correction order - Sentencing Act 1991 (No 49) ss 7 19 27 31.

Accident compensation - Transport accident - Compensation - Medical services - In vitro fertilisation - Injured person and wife receiving IVF treatment - Whether compensation payable for costs of wife's treatment - Transport Accident Act 1986 (No 111) ss 3 35(3) 60(1)(a).

Coroners - Inquest - Review of coroner's findings - Identity of person who contributed to cause of death - Finding that no person contributed to death - Cause of death - Whether findings subject to review - Whether against evidence and weight of evidence - Sufficiency of inquiry - Coroner relying solely on brief of investigating officer without examining witnesses - Whether inquest should be re-opened - Coroners Act 1985 (No 10257) ss 19 59.

Negligence - Duty of care - Foreseeability - Dust diseases - Mesothelioma - Appeal - Notice of appeal - Amendment - Late application.

Criminal law - Drug offences - Conspiracy - Conspiracy to traffick in a drug of dependence - Statutes - Interpretation - Covering the field - Inconsistency - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 321 321C 321D 321E - Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (No 9719) ss 71 79.

Criminal law - Drug offences - Trafficking - "Commercial quantity" - Heroin mixed with other substances - Weight of mixture below prescribed amount - Weight of heroin in mixture above prescribed amount - Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (No 9719) s 70(1).

Practice and procedure - Appeal - Leave to appeal - Judgments, orders and declarations - Order declaring that summons had lapsed - Whether final or interlocutory - Failure validly to extend mention date - Whether leave to appeal required - Whether order under appeal finally determines rights of the parties - Legal rather than practical effect of the order - Whether decision attended by sufficient doubt - Whether substantial injustice - Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (No 51) s 33 - Supreme Court Act 1986 (No 110) s 17A(4)(b).

Practice and procedure - Orders, judgments and declarations - Vexatious or oppressive proceedings - Vexatious litigant - Appeal - Whether leave required - Inhibiting order - Exclusion of criminal proceeding - Whether inhibiting order applied to proceeding to challenge intervention order - Supreme Court Act 1986 (No 110) ss 17(2) 17A(4)(b) 21.

Stamp duty - Conveyance duty - Deed of settlement consequent on marriage breakdown - Transfer of real property to trustee pursuant to settlement - Beneficiaries named as parties to marriage and their children - Discretion in trustee to make certain payments to or for charitable purposes - Trust and trustees - Trust - Charity and charitable gifts - Charitable trust - Meaning of "beneficiary" - Whether a charitable trust has beneficiaries - Whether there were beneficiaries under the trust other than parties to the marriage and their children - Stamps Act 1958 (No 6375) Third Schedule Heading VI exemption 27.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Weekly payments - Calculation - Pre-injury average weekly earnings - Meaning of "earnings" - Whether non-pecuniary benefits included - "Ordinary time rate of pay" - Whether fixed by employment contract - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 5(1) 5A 5B 93A 93B.

Land tax - Exemption - Club - Incorporated association - Exemption from tax for land vested in a body that provides or promotes cultural or sporting recreation - Exemption only available if body prohibits payment of dividends to its members - Meaning of "dividend" - Meaning of "pecuniary profit" - Fees payable to members for transfer to other members of accommodation entitlements - Land Tax Act 1958 (No 6289) s 9(1)(g) - Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (No 9713) ss 3(2) 51(1).

Criminal law - Appeal - Sentencing - Crown appeal - Sexual offences - Maintaining sexual relationship with child under 16 - Pregnancy of victim - Birth of child after sentence passed - Whether relevant to resentencing - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 567A(5) 574.

Criminal law - Procedure - Case stated - Motor vehicles - Breath test and blood alcohol - Blood alcohol content exceeding 0.05percnt - Evidence - Certificate of blood sample - Road Safety Act 1986 (No 127) ss 49 55 58.

Judgments, orders and declarations - Suppression order - Pseudonym order - Application by prospective witnesses in defamation trial - Suppression and pseudonym orders made in previous proceedings - Related criminal proceedings in which witnesses were complainants - Principle of open justice - Judicial Proceedings Reports Act 1958 (No 6280) s 4(1A) - Supreme Court Act 1986 (No 110) ss 18 19(e).

Partnership and partners - Mortgages - Security for partnership debts - Changes in membership of partnership - Whether mortgage a continuing security for advances after changes in partnership - Death of partner - Special notice required of death of partner - Guarantee and surety - Whether member of firm can be surety for firm's debts - Whether guarantee revoked as to future transactions by change in membership of partnership - Partnership Act 1958 (No 6330) s 22.

Mortgages - Equitable - Mortgage by deposit of title deeds - Mortgage by estoppel - Power of sale - Mortgagee's duties - Whether breach of duties by accepting lower offer.

Courts and judges - Bias - Pecuniary interest - Judge's shareholding in party - Whether judge has a pecuniary interest in outcome of litigation - Whether value of shareholding affected by outcome of litigation - Reasonable apprehension of bias.

Damages - Negligence - Contract - Causation - Remoteness - Loss of opportunity - Solicitors - Sale of property delayed by solicitors' default - Reduction in value of property - Fall in market - Whether damages should take account of fall in market - Contributory negligence - Assessment of reduction in value of property - Discount for contingencies - Interest on value of reduction - Whether recoverable - Election between damages in contract and damages in tort.

Criminal law - Manslaughter - Gross or criminal negligence - Defence of honest and reasonable mistake - Objective test - Accidental shooting while deer hunting - Sentencing - General deterrence - Whether sentence manifestly excessive.

Criminal law - Committal proceedings - Procedure - Witnesses - Cross-examination of witnesses by defendant - Leave required - Refusal of leave - Whether decision to refuse leave reviewable - Judicial review - Certiorari - Mandamus - Discretion - Fragmentation of criminal proceedings - Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (No 51) ss 56 142(1) 142(5) Sch 5 cll 12(1) 13 16 - Magistrates' Court (Committals) Rules 1999 r 9.02.

Taxation - Payroll tax - Wages - Employer and employee - Employment agency - Provision of services of temporary workers to agency's clients - Whether temporaries employed by agency - Employment according to common law concepts - Deemed employment under statute - Limitation of actions - Meaning of "proceedings" - Whether employer "charged" or "passed on" tax - Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 (No 8154) ss 3 3C 7 8 19A - Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (No 6295) s 20A - Limitation of Actions (Amendment) Act 1993 (No 102) s 6 - Taxation Administration Act 1997 (No 40) s 22.

Courts and judges - Jurisdiction - Cross-vesting - Transfer of proceeding to Federal Court - Statutes - Interpretation - Validity - Constitutional law - Claim for damages for disclosure of confidential information - Defence and counterclaim alleging contravention of federal legislation - Whether a "special federal matter" - Accrued jurisdiction - Common substratum of facts - Whether "special reasons" for Supreme Court to hear and determine case - Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 (No 29) ss 3 4 6 9 - Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 (Cth) ss 4 6 9 15 - Jurisdiction of Courts Legislation Amendment Act 2000 (Cth) - Federal Courts (Consequential Amendments) Act 2000 (No 22) s 24 - Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) Pt IV - Commonwealth Constitution ss 51(xxxix) 77(iii).