Daniel Favell

The attorney-general of South Australia wants to intervene in a High Court appeal of a ruling that put Judge Salvatore Vasta on the hook for a man’s false imprisonment, saying the judge was not entitled to immunity but that police and correctional officers were.

The state of Queensland has urged the High Court to step in after a Federal Circuit and Family Court judge was held personally liable for a man’s false imprisonment.

A man awarded $300,000 after he was unlawfully imprisoned for contempt has won his legal costs from the judge who jailed him. But a court has rejected his bid to recoup the costs paid to a damages expert in his case, finding he gave her “incomplete, inaccurate and unreliable” instructions.