Judgments, orders and declarations - Judgment - Reasons for judgment - Scope and adequacy - Obligation to deal with evidence and submissions - Magnitude of errors - Appeal - New trial ordered.

Building contracts - Architect - Staged entitlement to payment - Assessment of state of completion of work - Analogy with quantum meruit assessment.

Criminal law - Joinder of counts - Sexual offences - Separate trials - Evidence - Propensity evidence - Similar fact evidence - Admissibility - Admitted against one accused - Prejudice to co-accused - Whether prejudicial effect outweighed probative value - Record of police interview - Conducted before complaint made - Excluded by trial judge - Use of record of interview in cross-examination of accused - Principle in Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298 - Whether applicable in criminal trials - Indecent act with a child - Telephone conversation - Actual physical contact with victim required - Verdicts - Whether unsafe or unsatisfactory - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 47(1) 398A.

Criminal law - Fraud - False accounting - Elements of offence - Document "required for any accounting purpose" - Valuations provided to friendly society for purposes of obtaining loans - Whether valuations were documents "required for any accounting purpose" - Obtaining financial advantage by deception - Causal connection between the deception and the obtaining of advantage - Whether direct evidence required - Whether inference sufficient - Evidence - Accomplice direction or warning - Separate counts - Separate consideration direction - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 82(1) 83(1)(b) - Friendly Societies Act 1986 (No 119) ss 3(1) 68 69 73C.

Criminal law - Bail - Refusal - Warrant of commitment - Magistrates' Court - Detention in youth training centre - Whether magistrate may direct detention in youth training centre on refusing bail - Bail Act 1977 (No 9008) ss 3 12(1) - Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (No 51) ss 57 68 72 79 128 Sch 8 cll 5 7 11.

Criminal law - Sexual offences - Complainant aged four or five years at time of offences - Offences committed two to 14 months before complaint made - Directions to jury - Longman warning - Whether required and in what form - What amounts to forensic disadvantage - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 61(1)(b) 61(2) - Evidence Act 1958 (No 6246) s 23(2A).

Criminal law - Sexual offences - Evidence - Use of VATE tape procedure - Whether special directions required - Evidence Act 1958 (No 6246) s 37B.

Evidence - Recent complaint - Common law principles govern admissibility - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 61.

Accident compensation - Transport accident - Serious injury - Impairment - Assessment - American Medical Association Guides - Interpretation - Physical impairment - Extremities, spine and pelvis - Whether "genuine functionally-driven physical impairment" capable of constituting impairment - Episodic neurological disorders - Migraine headaches attributable to neck disorder - No brain injury - Whether capable of assessment as "episodic neurological disorder" - AMA Guides Chs 1 2 - Transport Accident Act 1986 (No 111) ss 46A 46B(1).

Accident compensation - Transport accident - Transport Accident Commission - Unregistered motor vehicle - Transport accident charge - Non-payment - Consequential non-existence of owner's right of indemnity - Judgment entered against commission in respect of third party claim for damages arising from use of unregistered vehicle - Vehicle being used on private property - Commission's right to indemnity - Claim against vehicle's owner - Defence - Whether non-existence of owner's indemnity due to owner's default - "Registered motor vehicle" - Whether charge only applicable at time when the vehicle is being used on a highway - Transport Accident Act 1986 (No 111) ss 94 97 109 - Road Safety Act 1986 (No 127).

Criminal law - Sentencing - Culpable driving - Relevance of appellant's driving record - Explicit reference to victim impact statement during sentencing - Whether sentence manifestly inadequate - Total effective sentence - Non-parole period - Cumulation.

Costs - Travelling expenses - Witness expenses - County Court - Personal injuries claim - Action compromised before trial - Plaintiff claiming travelling expenses for attending medical examinations - Medical experts to be called as part of plaintiff's case - Expenses not actually paid or incurred - Notional expense calculated at rate per kilometre travelled - Whether recoverable as disbursement - Whether recoverable as party and party costs - County Court Rules Ch I rr 33.04 33.05 63A.29 63A.69 63A.77.

Criminal law - Contempt - Sentencing - Applicability of Sentencing Act 1991 (No 49) - Sentencing Act 1991 (No 49) ss 11 12 13 14.

Criminal law - Murder - Provocation - Ordinary person test - Issue not to be left to the jury.

Practice and procedure - Case management - Fair trial - Discretion - Directions - Imposition of conditions - Time limits for filing documents - Court books - Proceeding under Accident Compensation Act 1985 - Late filing of defendant's court book - Defendant's court book index listing privileged surveillance videotapes of plaintiff - Defendant's application for extension of time for filing court book - Trial judge extending time conditionally upon defendant making videotapes available to plaintiff for inspection - Defendant failing to comply with condition - Defendant's proposed tender of videotapes as evidence and their use in cross-examination refused by trial judge - Whether exercise of discretion miscarried - Whether condition imposed for extraneous purpose - Whether condition authorised by statute or court rules - Whether miscarriage of justice - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) ss 135 135A 135AB - County Court Rules Ch I rr 34A.19 34A.29 34A.35.

Evidence - Legal professional privilege - Waiver - Implied waiver - Personal injuries litigation - Defendant's privileged surveillance videotapes of plaintiff - Listing of videotapes in defendant's court book index - Whether conduct inconsistent with continued assertion of privilege.

Criminal law - Evidence - Ruling - Admissibility of conversation recorded via listening device - Listening device installed pursuant to warrant in room occupied by accused in Juvenile Justice Centre - Fairness and public policy discretion - Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (No 21) s 15.

Real property - Torrens system - Caveat forbidding dealings - Withdrawal - Statutory prohibition on renewal of lapsed and removed caveats - Proceeding for withdrawal compromised - Caveat withdrawn - Land later subdivided - Same caveator lodging second caveat over whole of land - Whether prohibited - Transfer of Land Act 1958 (No 6399) ss 90(3) 91(4).

Criminal law - Sexual offences - Juries - Alleged attempt by different complainant at earlier trial to influence jury - Whether miscarriage of justice - Eight count presentment - Four counts relating to offences when accused was under 14 - Requirements of doli capax rule - Whether acts constituting the offences and age of accused may be sufficient on their own to discharge onus - Indecent assault on a person under the age of 16 years - Consent a defence where accused not more than two years older than person - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 44(3) 568(2).

Practice and procedure - Customs and excise - Excise prosecution - Companies and directors - Proceeding commenced by writ - Plaintiff seeking declarations of guilt and recovery of pecuniary penalties - Characterisation of proceeding - Civil or criminal or quasi-criminal - Penal in nature - Civil in form - Order for provision of witness statements prior to trial - Whether order properly made against defendants - Discretion - Privilege - Self-incrimination - Exposure to penalty - Whether accused generally entitled to remain silent until close of prosecution case - Excise Act 1901 (Cth) s 136.

Companies - Winding up - Liquidator's public examination - Summons to attend - Application to discharge summons - Whether proposed examination was oppressive, unfair or an abuse of process - Predominant purpose test - Pending proceeding by company - Whether liquidator intended to conduct rehearsal of cross-examination for that proceeding - Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ss 596A 596B 596F(1)(a) - Supreme Court Rules Ch V r 11.5.

Torts - Damages - Joint and several tortfeasors - Trespass - Assault - False imprisonment - Malicious prosecution - Negligence - Causation - Police - Statutory immunity from civil suit - Police raid on residential premises - Negligence in planning and execution of raid - Whether negligence caused damage resulting from intentional torts - Whether police acted necessarily or reasonably in the course of duty - Whether objective or subjective test - Whether immunity applied to intentional torts - Whether liability attached to the State - Police Regulation Act 1958 (No 6338) s 123.

Torts - Damages - Exemplary damages - Police - Raid on residential premises - Whether contumelious disregard of rights - Whether exemplary damages attached to the State - Malicious prosecution - Police Regulation Act 1958 (No 6338) s 123.

Torts - Malicious prosecution - Whether prosecution instituted maliciously and without probable cause - Joint and several tortfeasors - Inferences - Judge erring in imputing inferred impropriety to one tortfeasor because of impropriety of other tortfeasor.

Accident compensation - Transport accident - Serious injury - Impairment - Assessment - American Medical Association Guides - Interpretation - Nervous system - Disturbances of complex, integrated cerebral functions - Impairment limiting daily activities to directed care under confinement at home or in other domicile - "Confinement" - Whether restricted to a legally imposed restraint - Person living in special accommodation home - AMA Guides Ch 2 - Transport Accident Act 1986 (No 111) s 46A.

Administrative law - Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - Reasons for decision - Judicial review - Accident compensation - Transport accident - Serious injury - Impairment - Assessment - American Medical Association Guides - Interpretation - Overlapping types of impairment - Disturbances of complex, integrated cerebral functions - Mental and behavioural disorders - AMA Guides Chs 2, 12 - Statutory prohibition on double counting - Failure to consider evidence for either type of impairment - Whether merely a failure to comply with statutory obligation to provide reasons - Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (No 53) s 117(2) 117(5) - Transport Accident Act 1986 (No 111) ss 46A 46B.

Administrative law - Tribunals - Judicial review - Medical Practitioners Board - Jurisdiction - Disciplinary proceeding - Hearing panel - Professional misconduct - Procedural fairness - Whether implied jurisdiction to order permanent stay of proceeding - Alleged abuse of process - Investigatory nature of hearing process - Medical Practice Act 1994 (No 23) ss 46 47 49(a) 50(1) 52 53 54.

Practice and procedure - Trial of preliminary question - Inutility - Supreme Court Rules Ch I r 47.04.

Administrative law - Tribunals - Supervisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court - Medical Practitioners Board - Jurisdiction - Disciplinary proceeding - Hearing panel - Professional misconduct - Procedural fairness - Whether tribunal proceeding should be stayed - Alleged abuse of process - Investigatory nature of proceeding - Age and particularity of complaints - Balancing competing interests - Prejudice to practitioner - Public interest in having serious allegations investigated - Severance of complaints - Inapplicability of criminal law principles - Constitution Act 1975 (No 8750) s 85 - Medical Practice Act 1994 (No 23) ss 1 46 50.

Criminal law - Murder - Evidence - Circumstantial evidence - Whether jury's verdict unsafe and unsatisfactory - Evidence sufficient to entitle jury to convict and no error in judge's directions - Significance of failure of accused to give evidence in a circumstantial case - Sentence - Sentence of 21 years with minimum term of 16 years not manifestly excessive.

Criminal law - Evidence - Road safety - Driving offence - Breath testing - Failure to lead evidence that instrument met definition of breath analysing instrument - Whether fact that instrument complied with definition could be inferred - Presumption of regularity not available - Road Safety Act 1986 (No 127) s 58.

Practice and procedure - Appeal - From order of Magistrates' Court - Order striking out charge as a nullity - Not final - Magistrates' Court Act 1989 (No 51) s 92(1).

Criminal law - Motor vehicles - Breath analysis certificate - Whether may be excluded in court's discretion where no notice given under s 58(2) of Road Safety Act 1986 (No 127) - Police advising against blood test after certificate produced - Evidence - Whether public policy discretion or general unfairness discretion available - Road Safety Act 1986 (No 127) ss 49 58(2).

Contract - Sale of shares - Purchaser - Nominee clause - Construction - Companies - Oppression of minority - Settlement of oppression proceeding - Terms of settlement - Deed of settlement - Sale of shares to majority shareholders "and/or their nominees" - Purported nomination of the company - Statutory share buy-back required for company to acquire its shares - Whether nomination of company effective to substitute the company as purchaser - Whether novation of contract - Corporations Law Pt 2J.1 Div 2 ss 249A 257D 257G.

Prisons and prisoners - Administrative law - Judicial review - Prison offences - Prison governor - Jurisdiction - Hearing - Preliminary steps - Non-compliance - Procedural fairness - Hearing interrupted - Prison governor discussing prison security issue in absence of prisoner - Whether prisoner denied procedural fairness - Corrections Act 1986 (No 117) ss 45 48 50 51 53 - Corrections Regulations 1998 regs 44 66.

Criminal law - Sentencing - Serious offender - Relevant offence - Rape and related offences - Two episodes - Prior convictions for similar rapes - Extent of cumulation as between episodes - Significance of fact that offender Aboriginal who spent childhood in care and suffered abuse - Sentencing Act 1991 (No 49) ss 6B 6D 6E 16(1).

Criminal law - Appeal - Application for extension of time to appeal against conviction and sentence - Principles to be applied in considering application - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 572.

Criminal law - Indecent act with child under 16 - Possessing child pornography - Application for leave to appeal against conviction following plea of guilty - Principles to be applied - Meaning of "with" in Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 47 - Whether s 47 creates one offence or two separate offences - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 47.

Criminal law - Appeal - Effect of death of applicant prior to disposition of application for leave to appeal - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 567.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Serious injury - Impairment - Assessment - American Medical Association Guides - Interpretation - Rounding off provisions - Medical panels - Whether panel entitled to round off degree of impairment - Discretion - Whether rounding off provision confined to medical assessors - "May" - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) s 91.

Criminal law - Juries - Majority verdict - Six hours of deliberation - Whether breaks included in deliberation - Where judge informed jury of possibility of accepting majority verdict before expiry of six hours - Meaning of "deliberation" - Juries Act 2000 (No 53) s 46.

Accident compensation - Transport accident - Serious injury - Severe long-term mental or severe long-term behavioural disturbance or disorder - Post-traumatic stress disorder - Impairment - Pre-existing psychological disorder - Impairment determination by Transport Accident Commission - Review by Administrative Appeals Tribunal - Tribunal finding that stress disorder resulted from traffic accident - Subsequent application for leave to bring common law proceedings - Causation - Whether injury limited to aggravation of pre-existing disorder - Extent to which expert evidence required - Whether administrative review decision gave rise to an issue estoppel - Whether parties or their privies identical - Inconsequential erroneous legal ruling - Judges - Reasons for decision - Sufficiency - Interlocutory proceeding - Transport Accident Act 1986 (No 111) ss 46A 93.

Landlord and tenant - Retail tenancies - Retail premises - Outdoor surfaces - Internal structures - "Floor area" - "Lettable area" - Measurement - Statutory ministerial guidelines - Whether definitive or indicative - "Regard shall be had to" - Sorbara principles - Retail Tenancies Reform Act 1998 (No 14) s 3 - Ministerial Guidelines for Measurement of Lettable Areas 1999.

Fair trading - Fair trading dispute - Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeal Tribunal - Jurisdiction - Landlord and tenant - Lease - Lease determined by landlord's re-entry - Claim by former tenant against former landlord - Whether jurisdiction confined to disputes between present and future purchasers and suppliers of services - Retail Tenancies Reform Act 1998 (No 14) ss 3 34 35 - Fair Trading Act 1999 (No 16) ss 1 3 107 108.

Criminal law - Theft - Intention permanently to deprive - Direction to jury - Sufficiency of evidence of intention - Charge to jury - Failure to relate law to facts of the case - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 73(12) 73(13).

Legal practitioners - Solicitors - Disciplinary proceedings - Recognised professional association - Powers - Delegation - Complaint - Investigation - Legal Profession Tribunal - Jurisdiction - Laying of disciplinary charges - Purported delegation of power to lay charge - No formal instrument - Record in minute of meeting - Confirmation of minute - Whether charges validly laid by delegate - Requirement that delegation be "in writing" - Whether requirement satisfied by minute - Legal Practice Act 1996 (No 35) ss 151 313.

Administrative law - Natural justice - Procedural fairness - Bias - Right to be heard - Disciplinary proceedings - Legal practitioners - Solicitors - Complaint - Investigation - Practitioner given seven days to respond - History of detailed communications - Whether substance of allegations already well known - Legal Profession Tribunal - Spirited exchange concerning best way to conduct hearing - No objection - Attempt to raise bias on appeal - Waiver of objection.

Accident compensation - Workers compensation - Indemnity - Injury - Payment of compensation - Injury caused under circumstances creating legal liability in third party - Authority entitled to indemnity from third party - Assessment of indemnity - Statute amended between date of injury and date when compensation paid - Ascertainment of date when entitlement to indemnity arose - Ascertainment of date for quantification of indemnity - Accident Compensation Act 1985 (No 10191) s 138(1) 138(3).