In Brief Issue #1163

County Court of Victoria

A ceremony to farewell his Honour Judge John Carmody as a judge of the County Court will be held in Court 3-3 of the County Court, 250 William Street, Melbourne on:

Monday, 23 September 2024 at 4:30pm

All counsel who are able to do so are asked to attend. The ceremony will also be livestreamed via Zoom here.

We invite interested members to submit their Expressions of Interest for the position of Editor on the Victorian Bar News Committee.

Victorian Bar News is the biannual magazine published by the Victorian Bar for its members. It features a blend of in-depth professional articles, profiles of legal personalities, coverage of social events, courtroom humour, health and well-being tips, sports updates, travel stories, and highlights from key events—all presented in an engaging and visually appealing format.

The Committee is composed of four editors and 11 committee members responsible for coordinating the magazine's production.

Please forward your expression of interest to sharni.doherty@vicbar.com.au. The closing date is by COB on Thursday, 29 August 2024.

The Women Barristers’ Association (WBA) will be holding their Annual General Meeting on 12 September 2024, at 1:00pm, in the dhumba djerring Room, Level 1, Owen Dixon Chambers East.

The AGM is open for all members to attend and WBA also encourages new members to attend and join. 

Further, the WBA wishes to put out a call for new committee members. Anyone interested in joining the Committee is welcome to send a nomination form to Marion Isobel by no later than 12 noon on 5 September 2024.

At the AGM, the Committee for 2024/2025 will be elected and other business (including Convenor's report and accounts for the year) will be considered.

Nominations for the next Victorian Bar Pro Bono Awards are now open.

The next Victorian Bar Pro Bono Awards Ceremony will take place in March 2025, and nominations for the awards are open until November 2024.

If you are aware of barristers who are making an outstanding contribution representing parties on a pro bono basis, please consider making nominations throughout the nomination period.

For more information on the awards and to view last years winners, click here.

To nominate a barrister, click here.

Nominations are now open for the Law Council’s President’s Award 2024.

In 2007, the Law Council introduced this prestigious annual award and is conferred to Australian lawyers in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the public or other service. The award recognises and celebrates the exceptional accomplishment of individuals whose personal and professional commitment is to promote the development of improvement of law or the administration of justice throughout Australia.

Each year, the five most recent Law Council Past Presidents participate in a judging panel for the President’s Award. This is a prestigious annual award conferred in recognition of an Australian lawyer’s outstanding contribution to the public or other service. The President’s Award will be presented at the Law Council’s Gala Dinner, on Friday, 29 November 2024 at The Marion, Regatta Point, Canberra

Previous recipients of the President’s Award are (2007) Mr Lex Lasry QC, (2008) The Hon Ted Mullighan QC, (2009) Mr Bret Walker SC, (2010) Mr Colin McDonald QC, (2011) Ms Debbie Mortimer SC, (2012) Mr Mark Woods, (2013) Ms Elizabeth Heenan, (2014) Mr Geoffrey Eames AM QC and Ms Raelene Webb QC, (2015) Mr Ian Kennedy AM, (2016) Mr Julian McMahon, (2017) Mr David Neal SC, (2018) Mr Phillip Boulten SC, (2019) Ms Haley Allan and Mr Bill Mitchell, (2020) Mr Stephen Keim SC, (2021) Mr Terry O’Gorman AM and (2022) Ms Kate Eastman AM SC.

The Bar Council is asked to nominate one outstanding member of the Bar for this year as a recipient. In sending your nomination, please include a statement about the nominee’s achievements and how he or she fits the Award Eligibility Criteria.

Please send your nomination to sharni.doherty@vicbar.com.au on or before Thursday, 5 September 2024.

• Technology Price Increase FAQ. BCL recently communicated a price increase to all technology services, effective 1 September 2024 (see communication here).To read the FAQ regarding the increase, click here.
• Why Take Chambers with BCL? As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Victorian Bar, BCL provides a flexible and unique solution of chamber and technology support only available to members of the Bar. Click here to read more about the benefits of having chambers with BCL and click here to view our current vacancies.

All members of the Victorian Bar community, including staff of Bar and Clerks are welcome to join the choir. No obvious singing talent is required! You’ll find that the choir is friendly, and singing is fun and relaxing, which is a highlight of the week.

Term 3 dates: 16 July to 24 September 2024. 

Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm, Tuesdays.

Location: Level 11 East

Cost: $275 a term. 2024 Readers free.

Click here for the flyer. Pro rata subscriptions are available if you join mid term. For more information, contact the Bar office on 9225 7111 or reception@vicbar.com.au.

VicBar FC is calling for players (of all levels) for the upcoming football (soccer) tournament against QLD and NSW Bars and members to attend the Sports Law Conference.

Date: Saturday, 7 September

Venue: Brisbane, Queensland. Football games to be played at Moreton City Football Club grounds. If booking accommodation, Eaton Hills Hotel in Mortan Bay is recommended.

Further details: To be circulated once confirmed. The Sports Law Conference is usually held in the morning followed by the Tri-State Football tournament.

If you wish to play please email danielnguyen@vicbar.com.au with your preferred playing position(s) and we’ll do our best to accommodate. If you wish to attend the conference, please email indicating your interest.

Dear Members,

As of Monday, 26 August we are extending our Coffee Cart hours.

Our Coffee Cart will be open from 7:30am – 2:30pm daily

Ground Floor – Owen Dixon West

The Attorney-General of Australia, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, seeks expressions of interest from suitably qualified persons seeking appointment to the Federal Court of Australia, across all Registries and practice areas.

To be eligible for appointment as a judge of a federal court, a person must have been enrolled as a legal practitioner of the High Court or a Supreme Court of a state or territory for at least five years. Judges are appointed by the Governor-General for a term expiring upon the age of 70.

Information about the position, including remuneration, eligibility and selection criteria, and details on how to apply, is available on the Attorney-General’s Department website.

Those persons who previously submitted expressions of interest for appointment to the Federal Court in 2023 are encouraged to submit a new application. An advisory panel will be formed to assess expressions of interest, and will only assess expressions of interest received through this newly advertised process.

Future judicial appointments may be made from the expressions of interest received in this round.

The closing date is 12:00PM AEST on Friday, 30 August 2024.

Please indicate availability on the expression of interest form.

Further enquiries can be directed to JudicialAppointments@ag.gov.au.

Please find a news item on the appointment of two new judicial registrars at the Court.

Consultation re proposed amendment of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Development Rules (Barristers) 2015 pursuant to section 427(5)(b) of the Legal Profession Uniform Law.

The Australian Bar Association invites comments and submissions on a proposal to amend Rule 9(1) of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Development Rules (Barristers) 2015 to add a further category of ‘(e) Equality and Wellbeing’.

Rule 9 currently provides:

9 Categories of CPD

• A barrister must, unless otherwise exempted, in each CPD year engage in CPD activities in each of the categories set out below—
• Ethics and Professional Responsibility,
• Practice Management and Business Skills,
• Substantive Law, Practice and Procedure, and Evidence,
• Barristers’ Skills.
• These categories are subject to any requirement of the designated local regulatory authority or legislation.

Submissions can be sent to the Australian Bar Association on or before 30 September 2024 by email to: ceo@austbar.asn.au

The additional category would be a mandatory CPD that would to be undertaken annually by every barrister covered by these rules. However, the need to accumulate 10 CPD points annually would not change.

This proposed category is intended to include ‘Anti-Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying’ but is broader in nature.

The current CPD schemes in both the Northern Territory and South Australian contain requirements to complete one CPD unit relating to ‘bullying, discrimination and harassment’. Clause 1(d) of the Northern Territory’s CPD scheme requires practitioners to complete one unit in ‘skills relating to identifying, addressing and preventing bullying, discrimination and harassment in the workplace (including, for example, responding to claims of sexual harassment and developing strategies for a safe workplace culture)’ each year. Clause 2.2 of the South Australian CPD scheme requires practitioners to complete one CPD unit ‘relating to bullying, discrimination and harassment’ each year.

The proposal is more closely reflects the current CPD Scheme in Tasmania. Clause 3.2(d) of the Law Society of Tasmania’s CPD scheme requires legal practitioners to complete one CPD unit relating to equality and wellbeing each year. Schedule 1 of the Scheme includes the following illustrative and non-exhaustive examples of CPD topics that relate to equality and wellbeing:

• staff welfare (including WHS, staff wellbeing and the law relating to discrimination, harassment, and bullying)
• awareness training
• family safety and family violence
• unconscious bias
• bystander training
• sexual harassment
• bullying
• mental health
• working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• sex, gender and diversity and the law
• indigenous issues.

While not exhaustive, these examples would fall within the proposed ABA category.

Consideration was given to a limited category of ‘Anti-discrimination, harassment and bullying’, in the end the Council resolved to propose a broader category on the basis that:

• There is abundant academic research identifying a perpetrator’s poor mental health and lack of self-regulation as a contributing factor in his or her inappropriate behaviour;
• Inappropriate behaviour adversely impacts the wellbeing of both targets and bystanders;
• Inappropriate behaviour may arise from a lack of awareness or understanding of matters in respect of cultural or gender diversity; and
• A broad approach allows for a greater range of topics to be presented that, while not squarely addressing inappropriate behaviour, improves barrister civility and standards of practise by fostering self-awareness, empathy, and a respect for others.

It is considered that the proposed amendment will go some way to addressing issues of behaviour, civility and the culture of the Bar.

National Legal Aid has engaged researchers from the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney to conduct a survey of Legal Aid Private Practitioners. This survey is now open to all legal aid private practitioners.

The results of the survey will inform the future work of Legal Aid Commissions with private practitioners. Survey results will also form an important body of evidence for the advocacy of National Legal Aid nationwide.

The survey is designed to be completed by:

• Private legal practitioners who have delivered legal aid services in the last two years
• Private legal practitioners who have been on a legal aid panel in the last two years; or
• Private legal practitioners who work for an organisation on a list of preferred suppliers of legal aid services.

If you meet this inclusion criteria and wish to take part, the survey will ask about you and your work, the clients you work with, and how supports for legal aid private practitioners can be improved. Participation is voluntary and all responses are anonymous. If you would like to participate, the survey can be completed here.

For most people, the survey will take around 15 minutes to complete, however, it may take a few minutes longer for people who choose to write a lot of comments. The survey will close on Friday August 23rd, 2024.

The survey is being conducted by researchers from UNSW Sydney. National Legal Aid has commissioned it to better understand your experiences and continue to improve supports for legal aid private practitioners.

If, after reading the Participant Information you would like further information or to talk to one of the researchers, please email Natasha Cortis (UNSW) via n.cortis@unsw.edu.au. You can also contact Feiyi Zhang, Feiyi.zhang@legalaid.nsw.gov.au at National Legal Aid.

Note also that while participation of all legal aid private practitioners will help us build an accurate picture of the issues affecting us, taking part in this research study is voluntary and all survey results are anonymous. Choosing not to take part will not affect your relationship with National Legal Aid, your employer, any legal aid commission, or The University of New South Wales.

If you participate, at the end of the survey you will be given the option to go into a prize draw to win one of 2 x $250 online shopping vouchers (Giftpay).

This research has been reviewed and approved by The University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee. If you would like further information about the study, please contact the research team n.cortis@unsw.edu.au. If you have any complaints or concerns about the research study please email humanethics@unsw.edu.au or phone +61 2 9385 6222 quoting the following number iRECS6806.

We are pleased to support Australian Arbitration Week (AAW), being held from 13 to 18 October 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. The lead event for AAW 2024 is the ACICA & Ciarb Australia International Arbitration Conference, being held on 14 October 2024 at The Rivershed, Howard Smith Wharves.  

In its 12th year and with over 40 events currently scheduled on the Calendar of Events, AAW is ramping it up with sessions from global thought leaders, practical tips and tricks for practitioners and arbitrators of all levels, and kick on events to showcase Australia as a leading venue for dispute resolution, business and even a bit of fun. 

To ensure that you do not miss out on event and registration information, follow ACICA on LinkedIn and keep an eye on the AAW website. 

Melbourne Law School is pleased to present the following free public law lectures in August and September 2024:

2024 James Merralls Fellowship in Law Lecture (Melbourne and Sydney)

‘Constitutional Identity and the Right to Attachment’

Presented by Professor Nick Barber, Oxford University

What form should our relationship with the state take? Is the state like a team, where membership is grounded primarily in reasoned consent, or is it more like a family, where membership is grounded primarily in emotional attachment? The lecture examines the differences between these two, and argues that we have good reasons for wanting our relationship with the state to be underpinned by attachment. But whilst wanting to experience attachment is rational, it is not a disposition we can chose or can be reasoned into adopting. In consequence, states must rely on emotional strategies to ground attachment. The lecture ends by reflecting on the right to attachment, the limits that our reasons for wanting to experience attachment place on the emotional strategies states deploy.

This lecture will be delivered in Melbourne and Sydney. Please see below for further details on each location.

Melbourne lecture:

Date & time: Thursday, 5 September 2024 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm.

Location: Lecture Theatre G08, Law Building, 185 Pelham Street, Carlton

Information and registration: Please click here.

Sydney lecture:

Date & time: Tuesday, 10 September 2024 from 5:15 pm – 7:00 pm.

Location: QT Sydney, 49 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Information and registration: Please click here.

2024 Sir Kenneth Bailey Memorial Lecture

‘International Law and the Multilateral System in Face of Climate Change and Threats to the Ocean’

Presented by Dr Nilufer Oral, Director, Centre of International Law, National University of Singapore

The world is facing multiple threats to the environment, among which climate change dominates. Australia and Oceania are especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, in particular, harm to the marine environment and sea level rise. Climate change is a collective threat that requires collective action. The question is whether international law and the current multilateral system can meet the challenges of climate change? Can the seemingly fractured and cacophonic world of the United Nations rise above the daily commotions of crisis and find solutions to pressing problems facing the world?

International cooperation is at the heart of the United Nations Charter as expressed in Article 1, paragraph 3 of the UN Charter. The lecture will discuss cases in which the multilateral system through international law has rallied to address threats to the marine environment, including sea level rise, focusing on the work of the United Nations International Law Commission on sea level rise, the advisory opinion request presented to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea by the Commission on Small Island States (COSIS) and that presented to the International Court of Justice by the General Assembly, at the initiative of Vanuatu.

Date & time: Thursday, 19 September 2024 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm.

Location: Lecture Theatre G08, Law Building, 185 Pelham Street, Carlton

Information and registration: Please click here.

With insolvency cases now on the rise in Australia, and China and Hong Kong facing economic headwinds, it is time to take stock of recent international developments on the intersection of arbitration with company winding-up proceedings, and when a Court will stay a winding-up petition to allow underlying, genuine, disputes to be arbitrated.

You’re invited to join us for an insightful review and discussion from the following expert panel, Ciarb Fellows and Members of the HKIAC List of Arbitrators, Monique Carroll, Tom Clarke and Nick Luxton who will canvass recent leading decisions in Hong Kong, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom, and compare these with current and likely future approaches of Australian courts.

Monique Carroll is principal of Cite Legal, practising in cross-border dispute resolution and regulatory compliance.  Monique previously worked in a dispute resolution practice in Beijing, as well in leading Australian law firms.

Tom Clarke has practised at the Victorian Bar since 2008, having previously qualified and worked for six years as a litigation solicitor in Hong Kong.

Nick Luxton has practised at the Hong Kong Bar since 2014, and commenced practice at the Victorian Bar in 2023.  Nick appeared in Re Lam Kwok Hung Guy (2023) 26 HKCFAR 119 at first instance and on appeal to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

As this event is free of charge for Ciarb Members and Guests, registrations are essential and places are strictly limited. Non-Members $35 

Date:      Thursday, 5 September 2024

Time:      5:00pm – Doors Open
5:30pm – 6:30pm Panel presentation and Q & A
6:30pm – 7:30pm Networking Drinks

For more information and registration please click here.