Accident compensation - Transport accident - Serious injury - Damages - Trial by judge and jury - Judgment - Interest - Calculation of interest by trial judge - Past losses - Jury verdict not differentiating between past and future losses - Trial judge relying on evidence of earnings of comparable employee - Plaintiff's situation not truly comparable - Failure to make allowance for post-accident earnings and statutory payments for lost earning capacity - Ascertainment of amount taken to have been allowed by jury for past loss - Preferable for counsel to agree - Transport Accident Act 1986 (No 111) ss 49 93(11) 93(15).

Criminal law - Evidence - Ruling - Admissibility of record of interview - Suspect refused requested access to legal practitioner - Admissibility of DNA results of forensic sample obtained from suspect - Fairness and public policy discretions - Informed consent - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 464C 464R 464S.

Evidence - Legal professional privilege - Waiver - Implied waiver - Issue waiver - Client impliedly putting its state of mind in issue - Client's legal advice influencing or evidencing formation of client's state of mind - Fairness - Whether maintenance of privilege claim inconsistent with maintenance of client's implied assertions as to its state of mind - Obligation of lawyer acting for party asserting privilege in the discovery stage.

Criminal law - Sentencing - Defalcation and multiple thefts by solicitor - Sentence on defalcation count made wholly cumulative - Six year delay before sentencing - Manifest excess - Resentencing where total maximum and minimum terms remain unchanged - Legal Profession Practice Act 1958 (No 6291) s 42.

Practice and procedure - Pleadings - Amendment - Fairness - Substitution of statute-barred cause of action - Widow's claim for damages - Fatal intra-territory aircraft accident - Original claim based on negligence and breach of contract - Failure to plead exclusive statutory cause of action explicitly - Rule in Weldon v Neal - Scope - Statutory abrogation - Whether original pleading sufficient to support statutory claim - Whether new facts alleged - Relation back of amendment to commencement of process - Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1959 (Cth) s 34 - Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (No 6295) s 34 - Supreme Court Rules Ch I, r 36.01(6).

Practice and procedure - Federal jurisdiction - Pleadings - Amendment - Fairness - Substitution of statute-barred cause of action - Cause of action conferred by Commonwealth legislation - Whether State or Territory legislative provision permitting amendment can derogate from Commonwealth limitation provision - Whether Commonwealth legislation a code - Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1959 (Cth) s 34 - Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (No 6295) s 34 - Supreme Court Rules Ch I, r 36.01(6).

Constitutional law - Whether inconsistency between Commonwealth and State laws - Whether Commonwealth and State law irreconcilable - Commonwealth law dealing with liability - State law dealing with procedural and other matters associated with liability - Commonwealth Constitution s 109 - Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) s 79 - Civil Aviation (Carriers' Liability) Act 1959 (Cth) s 34 - Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (No 6295) s 34 - Supreme Court Rules Ch I, r 36.01(6).

Courts - Precedent - Commonwealth legislation - Interpretation - Undesirability of Court of Appeal departing from decision of Court of Appeal of another State.

Practice and procedure - Pleadings - Amendment - Addition of statute-barred cause of action - Cause of action conferred by Commonwealth statute and equivalent State statute - State limitations statute and court rules permitting amendment after expiry of limitation period - Whether State limitation statute applicable only to limitation periods which it fixed - Whether Commonwealth statute operated to bar remedy or extinguish it - Whether time limit an ingredient of cause of action - Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) s 82(2) - Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (No 6295) s 34 - Supreme Court Rules Ch I, r 36.01(6)

Constitutional law - Federal jurisdiction - Pleadings - Amendment - Addition of statute-barred cause of action - Cause of action conferred by Commonwealth statute - State limitations statute and court rules permitting amendment after expiry of limitation period - Whether inconsistency between Commonwealth and State laws - Whether Commonwealth and State law irreconcilable - Commonwealth and State laws operating in different fields - Commonwealth Constitution s 109 - Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) s 79 - Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) ss 52 82(2) - Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (No 6295) s 34 - Supreme Court Rules Ch I, r 36.01(6)

Statutes - Interpretation - Repeal - Preservation of accrued rights - Cause of action conferred by repealed statute - Whether claim sought to be made involved prosecution of an accrued right - Fair Trading Act 1985 (No 10201) s 11 - Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (No 10096) s 14(2)(e)

Criminal law - Successful Crown appeal in respect of offences against Commonwealth laws - Respondent not entitled to indemnity certificate under s 15(1) of Appeal Costs Act 1998 (No 87) - Appeal Costs Act 1998 (No 87) ss 15 21 27 35 37 - Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) ss 68(2) 79.

Criminal law - Sentence - Theft - Burglary - Pleas of guilty - Whether value of plea inappropriately confined to willingness to facilitate the course of justice - Weight to be accorded to remorse where prior convictions - Cumulation orders - Parity - Whether sentence manifestly excessive.

Criminal law - Murder - Evidence - Lies and post-killing conduct - Whether lies and conduct relied on by prosecutor as evidence of consciousness of guilt - Whether directions required - Edwards v R(1993) 178 CLR 193 - No miscarriage of justice - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 568(1).

Criminal law - Murder - Provocation - Evidence - Lies - Whether lies relied on by prosecutor as evidence of consciousness of guilt - Whether directions required - Edwards v R(1993) 178 CLR 193 - Sentence.

Criminal law - Sexual offences against children - Evidence - Rejection of evidence the probative value of which is outweighed by its potential for prejudice - Delay in complaint - Longmanwarning - Kilbywarning - Principles regarding directions to juries - When court should direct a judgment and verdict of acquittal and when to direct a new trial be had - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 61 568(2) - Evidence Act (No 6246) s 23(2A) 23(2B).

Wills and codicils - Executors and trustees - Trustees' commission - Remuneration fixed by will - Application for increased remuneration - Whether power to award - Whether testator's wishes conclusive - Discretion - Exceptional circumstances - Charitable trust - Trustees' pains and trouble - Long passage of time since testator's death - Large estate - Trustees' onerous duties - Change in trustees' statutory investment powers and obligations since probate granted - Whether power to make order for future commission - Whether commission sought just and reasonable - Joinder of Attorney-General - Administration and Probate Act 1958 (No 6191) s 65.

Criminal law - Evidence - Consciousness of guilt - Post-offence lies, flight and concealment by accused - Ruling by judge that all such conduct apart from one lie not admissible as consciousness of guilt - Whether jury would nevertheless treat as consciousness of guilt - Whether Edwards direction required - Edwards v R (1993) 178 CLR 193.

Insurance - Policy - Interpretation - Statutory insurance scheme - Non-completion of domestic building contract - Insolvency of builder - Building owner's claim for completion costs - Limitation clause - Insurer's liability excluded to extent that completion costs exceeded contract price by more than 20% - Insurer issuing policy in terms prescribed by Ministerial Order - Whether limitation clause ambiguous - Whether completion cost was referable to cost of completing building work as a whole or only cost of completing unfinished portion - Building Act 1993 (No 126) s 135.

Criminal law - Knowingly concerned in the importation of a trafficable quantity of cocaine - Admissibility of evidence of words uttered and acts done by third parties implicating the accused - Whether such evidence can be used in combination with other evidence enabling inference to be drawn that accused was a knowing participant in the importation - Whether trial judge erred in instructing jury to consider concept of conspiracy.

Trust and trustees - Constructive trusts - Trustee's rights - Indemnification - Subrogation - Trading trust - Trust assets - Mortgaged land - Sale by trustee to purchaser itself trustee for two trusts - Vendor thereby becoming constructive trustee for purchaser - Trustee sub modo - Vendor and purchaser obtaining replacement mortgage - Replacement mortgage securing all debts of original trust not just debt owing in respect of land - Breach of trust by vendor trustee - Successful claim for equitable compensation - Vendor trustee going into liquidation - Effect of constructive trust on trustee of preceding trust - Whether vendor trustee entitled to indemnity from assets of preceding trust - Whether liability properly incurred - Whether impugned act benefited trust estate - Whether trustee of a trust constituting the purchaser entitled to be subrogated to vendor trustee's rights of indemnification.

Bankruptcy and insolvency - Companies - External administration - Second meeting of creditors - Proof of debt for voting purposes - Admission or rejection - Administrator's right to make just estimate of value of debt - Proofs lodged by sole director of the company and another related party - Administrator's requests for production of the company's books and records - Creditor's repeated refusals to comply - Proofs rejected by administrator - Creditors' meeting resolving to wind up company - Appeal against rejection of proofs of debt - Whether proofs properly rejected - Whether genuine case of doubt - Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Pt 5.3A - Corporations Regulations 2001 (Cth) regs 5.6.23 5.6.26.

Administration and probate - Family provision - Commencement of proceeding - Time limitation - No application to be heard unless made within fixed period or within further time allowed by court - Fixed time expiring on a holiday - Application made the following day - Defendant seeking declaration that plaintiff was obliged to apply for leave to enlarge time - Interpretation of legislation - General provision relating to time limits expiring on a holiday - Extension of time to next day not a holiday - Remedial provision - Whether specific fixed time period extended by operation of general interpretation provision - Administration and Probate Act 1958 (No 6191) s 99 - Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (No 10096) s 44(3) 44(4).

Real property - Torrens title - Co-ownership - Joint tenancy - Tenancy in common - Two properties - Unregistered transfer of one property severing joint tenancy - Death of transferee - Survivor's claim for possession - Counterclaim by transferor's estate for joint tenancy in reliance on unregistered transfer - Transfer of other parcel by tenants in common to deceased co-owner - Whether survivor's signature on transfer authentic in each case.

Equity - Real property - De facto relationship - Partnership - Investment property - Co-owners registered as joint proprietors - Transfer severing joint tenancy - Transferor's signature inauthentic - Transferor's claim for restoration of joint tenancy - Equitable presumption against right of survivorship among merchants - Whether tenancy in common in equity.

Companies - Winding up - Liquidator's public examination - Practice and procedure - Directions - Privilege - "Without prejudice" negotiations - Legal professional privilege - Whether liquidator can be restrained from inquiring into privileged matters - Whether examination should be conducted in camera - Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ss 596A 596B 596F 597

Criminal law - Sentencing - Sexual offences against child - Sexual offending by a grandparent with his three year old granddaughter - Appeal by Director of Public Prosecutions.

Criminal law - Practice and procedure - Sexual offences committed against multiple complainants - Severance of presentment - Evidence - Propensity evidence - Directions to jury - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 372 398A

Criminal law - Sentencing - Murder - Remorse - Delay in prosecution - Whether sentence manifestly excessive.

Criminal law - Sexual offences against child - Evidence - Evidence of police questioning as to possible motive of complainant - Whether leave to cross-examine complainant as to subsequent sexual activity appropriate - Requirement of written notice - Whether verdict unsafe and unsatisfactory - Evidence Act (No 6246) s 37A.

Criminal law - Rape - Evidence - Evidence of recent complaint - Use that can be made of evidence of complaint - Consent - Onus of proof - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) s 37.

Criminal law - Armed robbery - Conspiracy to commit armed robbery - Defence of mental impairment - Evidence led by unrepresented accused of criminal conduct and history - Evidence prejudicial and otherwise inadmissible - Obligations of judge when accused unrepresented - Admissibility of evidence of acts and declarations of alleged co-conspirators - Decision of judge to refuse to grant an adjournment - Sentence - Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (No 65) s 20.

Criminal law - Sentence - Attempted robbery, theft, attempted armed robbery, armed robbery and recklessly causing injury - Parity - Significance of serious psychiatric illness and intellectual disability in sentencing - Desirability of moderating and cumulating sentences in appropriate cases.

Guardianship - Limited guardianship - Medical treatment - Guardian's power to make decisions concerning medical treatment - Elderly patient - Progressive and fatal dementia - Patient apparently in vegetative state - Provision of nutrition and hydration by artificial process - Proposed cessation - Inevitability of patient's ensuing death - Patient's right to refuse medical treatment - Guardian proposing to exercise right on behalf of patient - Guardian's application for declarations - Whether artificial process a "medical treatment" - Whether cessation of artificial process was a refusal of medical treatment or of "palliative care" - "Reasonable provision of food and water" - Use of legislative history as aid to interpretation - Statutory scheme of guardianship and administration - Whether inherent parens patriae jurisdiction should be exercised - Guardianship and Administration Act 1986 (No 58) - Medical Treatment Act 1988 (No 41) ss 3 4 5B

Insurance - Policy - Interpretation - Statutory insurance scheme - Domestic building contract - Insurer issuing policy in terms prescribed by ministerial order - Exclusion clause - No insurance cover for building developer - Two adjacent titles - Alteration of existing dwelling on one title lot - Simultaneous construction of four new dwellings - Three dwellings attached with common walls - Common driveway for all five dwellings - Proposed subdivision of two titles on completion of building project - Insolvency of builder - Non-completion of works - Completion costs - Denial of owner's indemnity claim - Whether insured a "developer" - Whether three or more homes built "on any one building site" - Appeal to Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - Evidence - Owner's affidavit failing to address very question in issue - Jones v Dunkel inference - Building Act 1993 (No 126) s 135 - Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (No 91) ss 3 5

Practice and procedure - Discovery - Anticipated litigation - Product liability claim - Cigarettes - Negligence - Tobacco addiction allegedly caused by cigarettes - Order for limited discovery - Categories of documents identified by plaintiff - Whether compliance with order - Whether order ambiguous - Documents discovered in previous similar litigation - Destruction of documents by defendant prior to commencement of proceeding - Failure to refer to destruction in affidavit - Defendant relying on legal advice - Solicitor's obligation - Defence struck out and judgment entered for plaintiff without trial on liability - Whether appropriate remedy - Whether judge's finding as to primary purpose of document destruction warranted - Whether judge's finding as to purpose of legal advice warranted - Whether destruction of documents had prejudiced fair trial - Supreme Court Rules Ch I, rr 29.02 29.04 29.05 29.12.1

Evidence - Privilege - Legal professional privilege - Waiver - Express - Implied - Legal advice - Written advice exhibited to affidavit - Advice referring to other privileged documents - Whether implied waiver in respect of those other documents - Criteria - Relevance - Fairness - Whether inconsistency in client's conduct.

Torts - Tort of spoliation forms no part of the law of Victoria.

Testator's maintenance - Application - Friend of testator - Provision of resident caretaker services - Provision of occasional routine domestic services - Applicable principles - Amendment of legislative scheme - Extension of eligible applicants beyond deceased's family members - Legislative specification of eligibility criteria - Whether amending legislation had codified case law on testator's family maintenance legislation - Requirement of moral duty - Plaintiff failing to establish testator's dependency - Administration and Probate Act 1958 (No 6191) s 91

Criminal law - Murder - Manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act left to jury - Whether there is a further category of manslaughter where accused acting in concert with others and death occurs as an unexpected consequence of carrying out the common design - Whether such further category should have been left to the jury.

Sentencing - Accused a youthful offender - Manifest excess.

Criminal law - Sexual offences against children - Pre-trial publicity - Whether trial to be stayed - Evidence - Longman warning - When required - Whether sufficient - Direction as to delay in complaining - Alleged failure of prosecution to call relevant witnesses - Jones v Dunkel direction - Propensity evidence - Whether rightly admitted - Directions concerning such evidence - Collusion - Innocent infection - Two presentments - Retrial directed on second presentment - Sentence - Sentence of eight and a half years' imprisonment affirmed on first presentment - Non-parole period of six and a half years fixed - Crimes Act 1958 (No 6231) ss 61 398A.

Criminal law - Sentencing - Incest - Unusual relationship between head sentence and non-parole period - Principles applicable to fixing non-parole period.