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Australia’s peak legal body has welcomed the injection of funds promised in Tuesday’s budget announcement for the appointment of extra federal judges to clear a backlog in migration and protection visa applications. But the funds allocated to legal assistance services is a “fraction” of what is needed, the Law Council said.

A group of DP World workers previously found to have been “blindsided” by their dismissal for refusing a mandatory COVID-19 jab have failed in a bid to appeal a decision that found their reinstatement inappropriate.

The High Court has found the indefinite detention of an Iranian man is not unlawful because he could be removed to his home country were he to cooperate with immigration authorities.

The Commonwealth can be held criminally responsible for damage to First Nations sacred sites in the Northern Territory, the High Court has unanimously found in a case over construction damage to Gunlom Falls in Kakadu National Park.

The High Court has held that a contractor had a “prima facie entitlement” to recoup the costs of building an aircraft hangar in Cessnock, NSW, which it spent in reliance on the local government performing its obligations under their contract, in a case that clarifies how courts should assess reliance damages claims. 

The High Court had been asked to clarify the extent of protection for employers for genuine redundancies under the Fair Work Act, after an appeals court found the exemption was “not absolute”.

The High Court has been asked to weigh in on whether a client needs to prove it could have exploited a lost commercial right in order to prevail in a law firm negligence case, after HWL Ebsworth successfully appealed a decision that found its bad advice over property in Parramatta’s ‘Auto Alley’ cost a client $2 million.

A County Court of Victoria judge has been found to have breached the standards of conduct generally expected of judicial officers in his handling of a rape trial, following a complaint by the state’s top prosecutor.

Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko was praised as hard working, a “model of humility and generosity” and “masterful” during a farewell ceremony on Monday attended by a host of legal luminaries.

A recently appointed High Court judge has warned against state and federal courts competing to attract cases, expressing concerns the appearance of impartiality could be compromised if courts sought to “drum up business at the expense of defendants”.