Reynolds/Higgins defamation trial continues this week

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Daily wrap  

• Foreign diplomat ordered to pay more than $500,000 to a former domestic worker in wage exploitation case - ABC News
   

  • Danaratna v Arunatilaka [2024] FCA 918
     

• Linda Reynolds victim of ‘heartless’ Labor attack after Brittany Higgins allegations, defamation trial hears | Australia news | The Guardian
   

  • Senator Linda Reynolds’ former chief of staff Fiona Brown may be excused as a witness in trial against Brittany Higgins

     

• Dutton seeks legal advice after being called ‘racist’ for Gaza visa views | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
   

• High Court dilemma after ‘inferior court’ judge imprisons man in error [SMH paywall]

  Do the potential benefits of an expansive judicial immunity outweigh the potential harm to individuals unable to obtain a remedy, asks lawyer for a man who successfully sued a judge.
   

  • State of Queensland v Mr Stradford (a pseudonym) & Ors; Commonwealth of Australia v Mr Stradford (a pseudonym) & Ors; His Honour Judge Salvatore Paul Vasta v Mr Stradford (a pseudonym) & Ors [2024] HCATrans 52 (14 August 2024)

    “MR DONAGHUE: Your Honour, we agree that in the real world the officers did not have a choice and, indeed, it would be quite a startling state of affairs to have had the events that played out in Judge Vasta’s court play out as they did, and then to have had the MSS security guard saying, sorry, your Honour, we just do not think you have acted fairly; we think you have made a jurisdictional error, we are not going to do what you have just ordered us to do. If that was the law, then that is an extraordinary state of affairs.”
     

• Senator Babet quality deletes video after legal threats

  “A Trump-loving, conspiracy-peddling Australian senator has quietly deleted a video from social media after he was threatened with punishment for posting a misleading video.”
   

• Police fear the human rights charter is a hurdle for bikie reforms [The Age paywall]

  Law enforcement agencies are concerned that new powers to stop bikies and organised criminals from consorting with each other will be difficult to enforce.
   

• Bowdens Silver mine project in NSW deemed void after appeal upheld - ABC News
   

  • Bingman Catchment Landcare Group Incorporated v Bowdens Silver Pty Ltd - NSW Caselaw
     

• ‘Cattle baron’ faces bankruptcy over $52m court ruling [The Australian paywall]

  Hong Kong-based lenders have won a NSW Supreme Court ruling against would-be cattle king Sam Mitchell, finding that he owes about $52m.
   

• Alleged gold thieves walk free after WA Police bungle key evidence - ABC News 
   

Editor’s picks

• What power does the military have in disasters and pandemics? - Anne Twomey - YouTube

  This video addresses the question of what powers the Australian military (known as the Australian Defence Force or the ADF) can exercise during civil emergencies in Australia, such as natural disasters and pandemics. It follows significant use of the ADF during catastrophic bushfires in January 2020, followed by its deployment to aid State police during the COVID-19 pandemic.

   

• Senior silks command up to $25k a day, but ASIC, ACCC pay under $5k [AFR paywall]

  Bar associations are sounding the alarm about the situation, which has left regulators relying on an evaporating pool of experienced barristers.
   

• Corruption boss warns on lawyers, consultants and the election [AFR paywall]

  As the anti-corruption agency marks its first year, chief Paul Brereton says electoral donations and pork-barrelling are in focus, as well as consultants doing government work.
   

  • The National Anti-Corruption Commission: One year on | National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)
     

• Legislation in the contemporary administrative state: an Australian perspective on Loper Bright — Australian Public Law
   

• Who cared? The disappearance of Amber Haigh, part 8 - podcast | Australia news | The Guardian

  All the evidence in the trial of Robert and Anne Geeves for the murder of Amber Haigh has now been heard. Reporter Ben Doherty tells Bridie Jabour about the final week in the NSW supreme court, each side’s closing submissions and what happens next

   

International
 

• Judge who made US teen wear handcuffs and prison uniform for falling asleep taken off bench for 'training' - ABC News
   

• Woman paid £35,000 over CPS’s decision to drop rape case after ‘sexsomnia’ claim | Rape and sexual assault | The Guardian
   

• High Court judge Marcus Smith reprimanded for love letters to junior staff member
   

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