Crown Law

The Catholic church can’t be on the hook for sexual abuse by priests because the principle of vicarious liability is limited to the employment relationship, the High Court has found.

Dentons’ Brisbane office has lured a partner and two special counsel from Holding Redlich to bolster its employment and safety team.

A judge has rejected Queensland’s bid to transfer two class actions over the removal of Indigenous children to its home turf from Victoria, saying removal was unnecessary in light of the court’s use of livestreaming technology and willingness to hold hearings in Brisbane.

A judge has rejected Lendlease’s argument that Queensland building legislation does not apply to cross-border works carried out at Gold Coast Airport, saying the builder’s construction of the law would require a “bolt-by-bolt” analysis of construction work.

An arrangement to restructure Queensland labour hire services company Comlek has survived a challenge by the state’s revenue office, which wanted the business wound up, claiming the restructure was against public interest and commercial morality.

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.

A Queensland man has prevailed in his case alleging Federal Circuit and Family Court Judge Salvatore Vasta unlawfully imprisoned him for contempt after he failed to comply with an order for particulars, winning over $300,000 in damages.

A judge has thrown out proceedings brought by mining magnate Clive Palmer in which he alleged an abuse of process by prosecutors and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, finding that Palmer’s suits were themselves a “misuse of proceedings.”