Cross-border regulation of insolvency practitioners
The Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016 introduced a stronger regulatory regime over insolvency practitioners. It may not have been noticed that this new law went so far as to regulate the conduct of practitioners while overseas. The words “in a foreign country” now appear in s 40-40, in each of the Bankruptcy Schedule and the […]
A contradictor in Mossgreen for the appeal hearing on 17 April
M: … An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition. … Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of anything the other person says. O: It is NOT! M: It is! O: Not at all! M: It is![1] Contradiction and argument are generally not to be encouraged except that our adversarial […]
Insolvency conferences, talks, books, articles and court hearings
We here at Murrays Legal are notified of many things happening or coming up – conferences, talks, books, articles, and court hearings and events. Here are some. As to events, we have ARITA in far north Queensland 19-20 April INSOL International in New York 29 April-1 May UNCITRAL in New York 7-11 May, on MSME […]
Linc Energy’s insolvency, environmental and constitutional issues are off to the High Court
The filing of a High Court special leave application[1] from the decision in Linc Energy[2] concerning the rights of liquidators to disclaim environmentally damaged land seemed inevitable in light of the constitutional, environmental and economic issues raised; as to which, see my earlier comments. The High Court is a more neutral forum to deal with […]
Judicial digs
The judgments of some judges are worthwhile reading for reasons apart from their legal content. Justice John Logan of the Federal Court is one.[1] Family lawyers and its judges too specialised? The evidence in this case in relation to the application by Ms Ellison for the making and amendment of an order under s 79 […]
A liquidator’s ‘overbearing approach’ did not pay
A “ham-fisted” response by a liquidator to an application by a director to terminate the liquidation of his company, has resulted in a substantial reduction in the liquidator’s claimed remuneration. When a person is made bankrupt by a sequestration order, or a company is ordered to be liquidated, there is sometimes a flurry of […]
Modern justice – exploring beyond the edge of the known legal world
A recent article by Mr Ken Hayne has offered a strong critique of many aspects of the justice system in Australia, and the way that lawyers and judges administer it. The article covers the slow and prolix way that litigation matters proceed, the volumes of ‘relevant’ documents, the increasing length of trials, and delays in […]
Imprisoning bankrupts
AFSA as the bankruptcy regulator has reported[1] on ‘tougher’ prosecution Instructions [2] issued by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) for a bankrupt failing to file a statement of affairs (SOA). This is by way of prosecution under s 267B of the Bankruptcy Act, which carries a maximum one-year jail sentence. The Instructions are said […]
NOCLAR and insolvency practitioners
The NOCLAR obligations of accountants have now been highlighted in the context of the insolvency industry by way of a useful article appearing in the ARITA Journal.[1] NOCLAR – in accountants’ terminology, ‘non-compliance with laws and regulations’ – is a new obligation assumed under the International Code of Ethics of Professional Accountants – APES 110. […]
Fallout from a Trillision – a Three Ship Affair
Collisions happen. Occasionally the collision which occurs is more accurately termed an allision, where a ship has struck a stationary object. A three ship collision rarely occurs which is probably why the term “trillision” has never been coined, until now. On 30 October 2104 a trillision occurred causing the total loss of a cargo of 2,600 […]
Trust law reform – continued
As much as the issues raised in the decisions in both Amerind (Victorian Court of Appeal) and Killarnee (Federal Court) are important, and have created much legal commentary, and on-going, they leave me legally cold. I’ll leave the debates to others but my point is that law reform is needed. The law of trusts itself […]
