Judgment

The High Court has halved a $40,000 fine received by former Liberal MP Andrew Laming over three Facebook posts that breached electoral rules, finding the penalty should reflect the number of publications rather than the number of views. 

Seven Network has secured a suppression order over court documents ahead of mediation in a lawsuit lodged by a long-time producer, with a judge agreeing media access to the case may “imperil” the settlement talks.

The Port Authority of NSW has won its claim for public interest immunity over six cabinet documents in a suit by a defunct sand importer over a lease agreement for a mulit-user facility at Glebe Island, with a judge finding they had little forensic value.

A judge has declined to order security in developer Gilridge Investments’ payment claim fight with Diamond Builders over a $5.3 million apartment project, saying the builder failed to show the penniless developer would not be able to cover its costs after completing the troubled project.

In a major win for two class actions and Fortnite maker Epic Games, a judge has found that Apple and Google misused their market power in running app stores and in-app purchase systems.

A court has ordered a stay of proceedings in a Melbourne property dispute, saying whether it could hear the case "better" than VCAT, as alleged by builder Brocon, was not the point.

A rental company providing long-term leases for household items has been slugged with a $7.4 million penalty after a court found its loan agreements did not comply with credit laws. 

A court has ruled that media reports accusing well-known orthopaedic surgeon Dr Munjed Al Muderis of unethical and profit-driven promotion of an experimental procedure were substantially true, tossing his defamation suit against Fairfax and its owner Nine.  

A judge has handed iSignthis and its director $11 million in penalties for failing to give adequate disclosures and giving misleading information to the ASX, saying reliance on legal advice was no reason to reduce the fine.

A judge that granted carriage of a Google ad tech class action to Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald has reiterated concerns that such cooperative arrangements between firms could breach competition law.