Spousal Maintenance
It is fairly common in relationships for a party to be the primary breadwinner and be responsible for providing financial support to the other party and/or to the children. In extreme cases the financially dependent…
News
Oaths Act and Oaths Regulation 2011
The law has recently changed requiring witnesses to certify the identity of a person who swears or affirms an affidavit. The Court forms for affidavits have also changed. The changes came into effect on 30…
Are pre-contractual dealings relevant in determining what constitutes the Contract?
If you spend days, weeks or months negotiating a deal, and the deal is subsequently reduced to writing and signed, are the negotiations which took place prior to the agreement being signed relevant in determining…
Challenging a Will: What are your rights?
When someone close to you dies, the last thing on your mind is usually what you stand to gain from the person’s will. But if you have been left out of the will or the…
Commercial Litigation
TRANSFIELD SHIPPING INC v MERCATOR SHIPPING INC INTRODUCTION The House of Lords decision in Transfield Shipping Inc v Mercator Shipping Inc (The Achilleas) [2008] 4 All ER 159 (the Transfield decision) is significant for two…
Reducing The Minimum Bankruptcy Period
By Steve McAuley – Australian Insolvency Journal – April > June 2010 The one size fits all approach of the current legislative regime which only enables a bankrupt to be discharged three years from when…
Ship Charter Ruling Makes Waves
The late return of a charter ship to its UK owner has caused a major upheaval in the way breach of contract losses are assessed in Australia and other parts of the world. Recovering losses…
Contracts May Not Be That Binding
In difficult economic times, many individuals and companies want to get out of contracts they have signed – particularly contracts that run for months and years. But how do you get out of a contract…
ACHIEVING THE HARMONIZATION OF TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL PROCEDURE: WILL THE ALI/UNIDROIT PROJECT SUCCEED?
In an increasingly borderless and multijurisdictional international business environment, parties seek certainty and predictability in the resolution of cross-border commercial disputes. The legal risk associated with doing business on a multinational level must be kept to a…