Did the police have a reasonable suspicion to conduct a strip search? Was the evidence inadmissible? Which case won?
A case in 2017 revolved around the question of whether the police had “reasonable suspicion” to conduct a strip search.
A man was riding a motorcycle along a road when he was stopped by police for not having his helmet strap done up. The man appeared to be nervous.
The police officer made enquiries and found out that the man had previous charges of drug possession and was on bail for manufacturing a prohibited drug. The police officer also observed “ice sores” on the man’s face.
Accordingly, the police officer formed the view that the motorcyclist might be in possession of drugs and decided to search him. In searching the man, the police officer conducted a frisk search and also put his hand inside the man’s jeans and into his genital area.
The man resisted and said: “You can’t do that”. He was then handcuffed and a strip search was performed. The strip search was conducted in public on the roadside in front of other officers.
A plastic bag containing methamphetamine was found in the man’s genital area.
Changes coming to NSW workers compensation for psychological injuries
“How can a head office make its franchisees sell pizza at a loss? Surely that’s unconscionable.” Which case won?
A case heard in the Federal Court in 2016 concerned an allegation by franchisees of a pizza chain of unconscionable conduct on the part of the franchisor.
In 2014, the franchisor of the Pizza Hut system in Australia devised a new “value strategy”, first to reduce the number of pizza ranges on offer from four to two; and secondly, to reduce the price of one range from $9.95 to $4.95 and the other from $11.95 to $8.50.
The strategy was devised in the wake of similar measures introduced by rival pizza chain Dominos, and on the back of several years of declining sales at Pizza Hut.
The franchisor undertook some testing of the value strategy in the ACT market, with promising results, and determined to implement the strategy Australia-wide.
Franchisees were required to adopt the strategy because the franchise agreements they had signed gave the franchisor the discretion to change the product range at their outlets and to set maximum prices.
How not to have a mortgagee sale
Can a vendor cancel a contract of sale and keep the deposit? Which case won?
A dispute heard in the NSW Court of Appeal concerned whether or not a property vendor was entitled to cancel a contract of sale and keep the purchaser’s deposit.
A parcel of land in Fairfield, Sydney, was sold at auction for $1.46 million. The buyer and seller entered into a contract for sale and the buyer paid a ten per cent deposit of $146,000. The contract stated that the completion date was to be 20 June 2015.
Some time prior to entering into the contract, the vendor had performed earthworks on the property. The local council had declared the earthworks illegal and issued an order requiring that the seller reinstate the property to its previous condition.
By a special condition contained in the contract, the seller agreed to reinstate the property as required by the order “before completion”. The contract stated that the buyer would be entitled to terminate the contract and be repaid the deposit if the seller failed to do so.
“I deserve more of the marital assets because I bought the house and now I look after the children.” Which case won?
A case in the Family Court involved a dispute over the division of marital assets.
The husband was aged 39, the wife was aged 37 and they had been married for about ten years at the time of separating. They had two children.
When they started living together, the husband had assets of a total value of $226,000, while the wife had assets of a total value of $11,500.
The husband was employed at all times and the wife was employed until shortly before the first child was born, then employed part-time after the first child turned five.
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Strata owners corporation convicted over site death
Who was to blame for a drunken motorcycle accident? Which case won?
A case heard in NSW in 2017 involved a drunken motorcycle accident.
At 5.15 in the morning following a night of heavy drinking, two men who were friends each rode an unregistered off-road motorcycle (trail bike) on a public road in New South Wales. The two men subsequently become the plaintiff and defendant in this case.
Neither motorcycle was fitted with a headlight. While travelling in opposite directions along the road, the two trail bikes were involved in what was effectively a head-on collision.
The collision occurred on the plaintiff’s side of the road, about 1.5 metres from the centre line on the road. The bikes both collided on their left-hand side, which meant the defendant’s motorbike had to have crossed the path of the plaintiff’s bike before they collided.
The plaintiff was wearing a motorcycle helmet, but the defendant was not. While the plaintiff was unlicensed, he did have considerable experience riding trail bikes.
Police PTSD compensation claims
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What happens with equipment leasing when a company goes into liquidation? Which case won?
A dispute over equipment leasing was heard by the NSW Supreme Court in 2016.
A power company had been retained by a government body in Western Australia to design, construct, test and commission a temporary power station.
In March 2013, the power company entered into a written contract with a conglomerate to lease four mobile gas turbine generators to the power company for a fixed term. The value of the lease was over $33 million. At the end of the lease the turbines were to be returned to the conglomerate.
Could a bank enforce a loan agreement with a forged signature? Which case won?
A company was established in 1991 and operated a paintball/skirmish business on a property in Sydney. In 2004 and 2009 the company entered into loan agreements with a bank. The amounts totalled approximately $100,000, with a further advance of $50,000, and two overdraft facilities of $15,000 and $20,000.
The company had two directors, who had both personally guaranteed an overdraft facility provided by the bank in 1996.
This same guarantee was used as security for both the 2004 and 2009 loans.
“It was unconscionable for the casino to exploit my gambling addiction.” Which case won?
In July 1994, at the age of 27, a gambler commenced gambling at a casino in Melbourne.
Over the course of 1994 he lost $110,000 of his father’s money at the casino.
He was also charged with defrauding a finance company of approximately $286,000, an offence which he sought to mitigate by asserting that it was committed to support a gambling addiction.
The gambler was referred to a program for problem gamblers, as well as to a clinical psychologist specialising in gambling-related diseases.
He was diagnosed as a “classic pathological gambler”.