The mobile patent wars, it seems, have reached Australian shores. On Monday, representatives of Apple and Samsung were in the Australian Federal Court, fighting it out over Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet…
Would a right to privacy have helped Lara Bingle? AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy.
Who would have predicted there would be serious talk of a statutory privacy tort in Australia, giving private individuals who feel their privacy as been breached the right to sue? But then again, who would…
It costs $207 a day to keep one prisoner in jail.
Flickr/winterofdiscontent
Hilde Tubex, The University of Western Australia and David Indermaur, The University of Western Australia
Australia’s prison population is decreasing. But it’s a little too early to break out the champagne. The huge regional differences reveal that imprisonment is not based on the crime you commit, but the…
The phones of victims of the London bombings were allegedly hacked by staff at the News of the World.
AFP/Dylan Martine/WPA pool
The British newspaper The News of the World is being investigated over allegations of hacking into the phones of relatives of the victims of the bombings in London in July 2005. It’s also thought those…
Former Securency chief financial officer Mitchell Anderson, left, is facing foreign bribery charges.
The laying of charges against two Reserve Bank of Australia subsidiaries and six of their former senior managers for alleged bribery of foreign officials represents a truly historic moment in Australian…
Demanding climate data won’t provide a new window into global warming.
nasa hq photo/flickr
When it comes to obtaining research data, Canadian academic Steve Easterbrook said it best: “Any fool knows you don’t get data from a scientist by using FOI requests, you do it by stroking their ego a…
Centro Properties Group’s directors were found to have breached the Corporations Act.
AAP
The Centro Properties Group ruling is one of the most significant judgments we have had in the areas of corporate law and corporate governance in a number of years. Federal Court Judge John Middleton ruled…
Australia needs to reassess where it stands on mental health.
Flickr/knicolai
Even a cursory glance at Australia’s mental health system indicates shortcomings in the provision of a range of services to people with mental impairments. Since 1993, when the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity…
Despite attempts at regulatory reform, ratings agencies still act with little threat of litigation.
AAP
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s sovereign debt rating by three notches on Monday, reflecting its view that it would be next to impossible to imagine a scenario where the country could restructure…
ASIC’s active involvement in litigating against company directors is unique.
The outcome of the corporate regulator’s pursuit of Centro Properties Group’s directors over alleged beaches of their duties will have far-reaching implications for corporate governance in Australia. Not…
Most parents split amicably but one in five parents reported that they had safety concerns for themselves or their child due to contact with the other parent.
Flickr
Safety fears mark the relationships of nearly one in five parents who have separated but around 60% say they have amicable relations with their ex, according to a report by the Australian Institute of…
Under the rule of law bin Laden should have been captured.
AFP/Jim Watson
In the extensive debate about the killing of Osama bin Laden there has been very little discussion of the legal (and possibly moral) aspects of the US operation. This is especially true in the United States…
The Tarkine is our largest cool temperate rainforest, but will that be enough to save it?
Flickr/leonrw
Once a place is heritage listed, it’s protected, right? Wrong. Politics and a flawed statutory regime are undermining the independence of the listing system, and threatening Australia’s national treasures…