Luxury car maker BMW has told the NSW Court of Appeal that the courts do not have power to make common fund orders at any stage of a group proceeding, arguing that such orders would distort the scope of the class action regime by encouraging litigation funders to pursue lawsuits.
A Sydney rabbi who told the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse that he did not know touching a child’s genitals was a crime has lost his appeal of a ruling throwing out defamation proceedings he brought against Nationwide News and SBS.
The director of a defunct HR company has lost his bid to avoid paying a $384,000 tax bill after hundreds of thousands of dollars were sent to the tax office via the wrong EFT number and used to repay other debts the company owed.
An appeals court has dismissed a challenge by businessman and prolific inventor Kia Silverbrook to a finding that he was jointly liable to pay a $9.3 million penalty notice issued by the ATO for unpaid Pay As You Go tax.
A ruling Wednesday that struck down class closure orders — a device used by judges in class actions for the past two decades — has split the courts in Australia and is expected to head to the High Court.
An appeals court has overturned a ruling ordering class closure in seven representative proceedings against car makers over defective Takata airbags, finding courts do not have the power to make class closure orders.
A Sydney-based childcare centre that sent an allegedly defamatory email to 35 people has won its appeal of a $238,000 damages award, with an appeals court calling the figure “manifestly excessive” and questioning the “fundamental approach to damages” in defamation cases in NSW.
The lead applicants in seven class actions against auto manufacturers over explosive Takata airbags have criticised the courts for losing their way in ensuring justice is done, in a landmark challenge to class closure orders made in the cases.
A challenge by Quinn Emanuel to a NSW Supreme Court decision staying its shareholder class action against AMP has been unanimously dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which found the class action beauty contest was not decided in error and that subsequently filed representative proceedings were not an abuse of process.
A class action alleging travel agency Scenic Tours owes damages to European cruise passengers forced to take buses when heavy rain flooded waterways is still proceeding despite an impending High Court appeal, with the tour company now seeking to argue in an amended defence that class members could not reasonably rely on it to control water levels.