Courts and judges — Parens patriae jurisdiction — Infants and juveniles — Care and protection — Pregnant teenage child — Intellectual disability — Sole parental responsibility of Secretary to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing — Intersection of statutory powers with parens patriae jurisdiction — Whether parens patriae jurisdiction extends to authorising accommodation in secure welfare service beyond statutory time limit — Statutory power to authorise medical treatment without child’s consent — Whether in best interests of child to be subject to restraint to facilitate child birth and post-delivery insertion of reversible contraception — Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), ss 8(2), 10, 11, 172, 173, 174, 175, 597

Guardianship — Child — Intellectual disability — Care by Secretary order — Statutory detention authority — Sufficiency — Time limitation — Extension — Best interests of child — Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), ss 172, 173, 174

Human rights — Freedom of movement — Limitation — Least restrictive means — Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic), ss 7(2), 12

Practice and procedure — Group proceeding — Application for leave to amend group definition — Application to strike out pleadings — Adequacy of group definition — Group member defined as person who acquired motor vehicle containing ‘defeat device’ — Existence of ‘defeat device’ a fact in issue — Definition of ‘defeat device’ technical — Whether definition permitted ascertainment of group members — Whether amendment unfair or unreasonable — Whether adverse to interests of group members — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic), s 33H

Equity — Breach of fiduciary duty — Remedies — Equitable compensation — Causation — Procurement of breach — Fiduciary and procurers caused money to be borrowed and disbursed in breach of duty — Measure of loss — Connection between breach and loss — Whether loss would have been incurred had breach not been procured — Liability to compensate — Whether procurers and fiduciary jointly and severally liable to compensate

Practice and procedure — Security for costs — Funds paid into court — Discretion as to disposition — Plaintiff provided security for costs of third defendant — Fifth defendant and plaintiff sought release of funds — Fifth defendant successful in defending claims and entitled to costs — No realistic prospect of fifth defendant recovering costs from plaintiff — Relevance of purpose for which funds paid into court and interests of payer and payee — Particular defendant’s interests not an object of the payment into court — Whether funds to be released to plaintiff or to particular defendant

Local Government — Councillors — Role — Allegation of misconduct by Councillor — Internal arbitration — Finding of misconduct arising from comments made on social media by Councillor using personal account in relation to a matter for decision by Council — Whether conduct occurred ‘in performing the role of a Councillor’ — Local Government Act 2020 (Vic), s 28 — Local Government (Governance and Integrity) Regulations 2020 (Vic), sch 1 cl 1

Words and phrases — ‘decision making’

Adminisitration and probate — Revocation of probate — Fraudulent impersonation of executors — Application to revoke grant — Power to revoke a grant obtained by fraud — Adminstration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic), s 67

Limitation of actions — Declaratory relief — Declarations sought as to shareholdings in private company more than six years after allegedly false notifications made to Australian Securities and Investments Commission — Whether claims ‘founded on tort’ — Whether facts alleged comprised tort of injurious falsehood or cause of action based on wrongful conduct — Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic), ss 5(1)(a), (2), (8), 21 — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic), s 36 — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), r 23.05

Equity — Enforceability of gift — Transfer of shares for no consideration — Whether donor completed all actions required to effect transfer

Estoppel — Promissory estoppel — Estoppel by acquiescence or inaction — Transfer of shares — Challenge to validity by non-party to transfer — Whether estopped from challenging validity of transfer

Practice and procedure — Appeal — Leave to withdraw concession on appeal — Whether in interests of justice to re-open issue

Words and phrases — ‘action’ — ‘cause of action’ — ‘declarations of right’

Torts — Negligence — Duty of care — Scope — Football club — Volunteer — Child spectators regularly attending club — Sexual abuse of child by club volunteer — Whether football club owed duty of care to child spectator broader than occupier’s liability — Whether errors in charge to civil jury — Whether duty of care could extend to a risk of sexual abuse by a person for whose actions the football club was not vicariously liable

Damages — Torts — Negligence — Psychiatric injury caused by historical sexual abuse — Jury award — General damages for pain and suffering — Whether award manifestly excessive — Damages for past loss of earnings and loss of earning capacity — Whether award had evidentiary basis — Manner in which damages for loss of earning capacity should be assessed — Indexation of past loss permitted — Discount rate for the calculation of future economic loss — Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 (Vic), r 47.02 — Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic), s 14(1), 60, 60(2)(a) — Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic), ss 7, 8, 9 — Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), pt VB, pt VBA, 28C(2)(a), 28LC

Evidence — Admission of statement of deceased witness — Danger of unfair prejudice — Evidence Act 2008 (Vic), ss 63, 135

Counsel — Comments by counsel during closing address to jury

Wills and codicils — Rectification — Testator gave oral instructions to solicitor charged with preparing will — Oral instructions reflected testator’s anterior mistake — Whether will carried out intentions of testator — Whether will failed to give effect to testator’s instructions — Whether clerical error — Wills Act 1997 (Vic), s 31(1)

Words and phrases — ‘clerical error’

Negligence — Duty of care — Psychiatric injury — Attempted suicide by employee — Co-worker Witnessed aftermath of attempted suicide — Employee who had attempted suicide no longer at scene of incident — Whether employee attempting suicide owed duty of care to co-worker to take reasonable care to avoid co-worker sustaining psychiatric injury from witnessing the aftermath of the attempt — County Court Civil Procedure Rules 2018 (Vic), r 47.04