Beware the second offer!

In conveyancing of all types, it is very common that a contract will only be formed after often lengthy negotiations which may involve a counter-offer or multiple counter-offers. At common law, the laws of contract that govern these arrangements are well known and well understood. However, the legislative overlay imposed by the requirements of the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000 (Qld) (‘PAMDA’) can create difficulties as illustrated by the result in Rice v Ray [2009] QDC 275.

Legal ethics in a post-Westphalian world : building the international rule of law and otehr tasks

The emergence of strong sovereign states after the Treaty of Westphalia turned two of the most cosmopolitan professions (law and arms) into two of the least cosmopolitan. Sovereign states determined the content of the law within their borders – including which, if any, ecclesiastical law was to be applied; what form of economic regulation was adopted; and what, if any, international law applied. Similarly, states sought to ensure that all military force was at their disposal in national armies. The erosion of sovereignty in a post-Westphalian world may significantly reverse these processes. The erosion of sovereignty is likely to have profound consequences for the legal profession and the ethics of how, and for what ends, it is practised. Lawyers have played a major role in the civilization of sovereign states through the articulation and institutionalisation of key governance values – starting with the rule of law. An increasingly global profession must take on similar tasks. The same could be said of the military. This essay will review the concept of an international rule of law and its relationship to domestic conceptions and outline the task of building the international rule of law and the role that lawyers can and should play in it.

The treatment of employee priority in a deed of company arrangement

This article examines one of the changes implemented in the Corporations Amendment (Insolvency) Act 2007 (Cth) . It is argued that the insertion of s 444DA raises some matters that go to the nature of the insolvency process generally and the operation of Pt 5.3A in a particular. The position of employees in insolvency is a matter that is the subject of much comment from a policy perspective. This article does not cover that debate but provides some initial explanation of the need to protect employees. The second part of the article covers the particular background to the voluntary administration system as far as employee rights are concerned as well as the arguments put forward by the government to justify the change in the legislation which inserted s 444DA . It suggests that there was little evidence provided for the need to protect employee priority rights in this particular way. An alternative explanation is given for the change adopted by the government. The third part of the article suggests that the manner in which the legislation seeks to better protect employee creditors is somewhat clumsy in its operation. It raises a number of questions about how the legislation may operate and argues that given the stated aims, some alteration to it would improve its effectiveness.

Professions without borders : global ethics and the international rule of law

The emergence of strong sovereign states after the Treaty of Westphalia turned two of the most cosmopolitan professions (law and arms) into two of the least cosmopolitan. Sovereign states determined the content of the law within their borders – including which, if any, ecclesiastical law was to be applied; what form of economic regulation was adopted; and what, if any, international law applied. Similarly, states sought to ensure that all military force was at their disposal in national armies. The erosion of sovereignty in a post-Westphalian world may significantly reverse these processes. The erosion of sovereignty is likely to have profound consequences for the legal profession and the ethics of how, and for what ends, it is practised. Lawyers have played a major role in the civilization of sovereign states through the articulation and institutionalisation of key governance values – starting with the rule of law. An increasingly global profession must take on similar tasks. The same could be said of the military. This essay will review the concept of an international rule of law and its relationship to domestic conceptions and outline the task of building the international rule of law and the role that lawyers can and should play in it.

The tales we tell : exploring the legal stories of Queensland women who kill

The bulk of the homicide research to date has focused on male offending, with little consideration given to women's offending and in particular, their constructions within the courtroom following a homicide-related charge. This thesis examines, in detail, nineteen homicide cases finalised in the Queensland Supreme Courts between 01/01/1997 and 31/12/2002, in order to document and discuss the various legal stories available to women who kill. Predominantly, two “stock stories” are available within the court. The first, presented by the defence, offers the accused woman a victimised position to occupy. Evidence of victimisation is made available through previous abuse, expert testimony from psychologists and psychiatrists, challenges to her mental health, or appeals to her emotional nature. The second stock story, presented by the prosecution, positions the accused woman as angry, full of revenge, calculating and self serving. Such a script is usually supported by witnesses, police evidence, and family members. This thesis examines these competing and contradictory scripts using thematic discourse analysis to examine the court transcripts in detail. It argues that the "truth" of the fatal incident is based on one of these two prevailing scripts. This research destabilises the dominant script of violent female offending in the feminist literature. Most research to date has focussed on explaining the circumstances in which women kill, concentrating attention on the victimisation of the violent offending woman and negating or de-prioritising any volition on her part. By analysing all transcripts of women whose trials were held within the specified period, this research is able to demonstrate the stories used to describe their complex offending, and draw attention to the anger and intent that can occur alongside the victimisation.

The status of Australian nurse practitioners : the second national census

Objectives. To profile Australian nurse practitioners and their practice in 2009 and compare results with a similar 2007 census. Methods. Self-administered questionnaire. Results. Atotal of 293 nurse practitioners responded (response rate 76.3%). The majority were female (n = 229, 81.2%); mean age was 47.3 years (s.d. = 8.1). As in 2007, emergency nurse practitioners represented the largest clinical specialty (n = 63, 30.3%). A majority practiced in a metropolitan area (n = 133, 64.3%); a decrease from 2007. Consistent with 2007, only 71.5% (n = 208) were employed as a nurse practitioner and 22.8% (n = 46) were awaiting approval for some or all of their clinical protocols. Demographic data, allocations of tasks, and patterns of practice remained consistent with 2007 results. ‘No Medicare provider number’ (n = 182, 91.0%), ‘no authority to prescribe using the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme’ (n = 182, 89.6%) and ‘lack of organisational support’ (n = 105, 52.2%) were reported as ‘limiting’ or ‘extremely limiting’ to practice. Conclusions. Our results demonstrate less than satisfactory uptake of the nurse practitioner role despite authorisation. Barriers constraining nurse practitioner practice reduced but remained unacceptably high. Adequate professional and political support is necessary to ensure the efficacy and sustainability of this clinical role.

Section 64 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) and the reluctant buyer

The decision of the Court of Appeal in Dunworth v Mirvac Qld Pty Ltd [2011] QCA 200 arose from unusual circumstances associated with the flood in Brisbane earlier this year. Maris Dunworth (‘the buyer’) agreed to purchase a ground floor residential apartment located beside the Brisbane River at Tennyson from Mirvac Queensland Pty Ltd (‘Mirvac’). The original date for completion was 12 May 2009. In earlier proceedings, the buyer had alleged that she had been induced to purchase the apartment by false, misleading and deceptive representations. This claim was dismissed and an order for specific performance was made with a new completion date of 8 February 2011...

Impact of the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act 1999 on initial public offering prospectus earnings forecasts

Commencing 13 March 2000, the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program Act 1999 (Cth) introduced changes to the regulation of corporate fundraising in Australia. In particular, it effected a reduction in the litigation risk associated with initial public offering prospectus disclosure.We find that the change is associated with a reduction in forecast frequency and an increase in forecast value relevance, but not with forecast error or bias. These results confirm previous findings that changes in litigation risk affect the level but not the quality of disclosure. They also suggest that the reforms’ objectives of reducing fundraising costs while improving investor protection, have been achieved.

Options for the development of the New Zealand Law of Charities

The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies was briefed to advise the Charities Commission of New Zealand on ways in which the law of charity might be developed. The substantive issue underpinning the brief is a need to enable charity law in New Zealand to continue to develop in accordance with the societal values of New Zealand. This is an options paper and as such it does not explain the current law, but is intended to generate constructive discussion. Four options are sketched, with important issues and implications for each. No recommendation is made to adopt a particular option; there are strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats with each of the four approaches canvassed.

Case studies of statutory interventions into the common law concept of charity

This paper considers four examples of statutory interventions into the common law concept of charity, namely, those of Pennsylvania, Barbados, the definition recommended by the Report of the Inquiry into the Definition of Charities in Australia, and the Recreational Charities legislation of the United Kingdom. It comments on some issues affecting each style of intervention. The paper does not argue against statutory intervention but submits that legislative changes are best made by deeming a particular purpose to be charitable, or not charitable, so that, except to that extent, the common law concept remains intact – this is the approach adopted by the Recreational Charities legislation.

Modeling and analyzing the carbon footprint of business processes

Many corporations and individuals realize that environmental sustainability is an urgent problem to address. In this chapter, we contribute to the emerging academic discussion by proposing two innovative approaches for engaging in the development of environmentally sustainable business processes. Specifically, we describe an extended process modeling approach for capturing and documenting the dioxide emissions produced during the execution of a business process. For illustration, we apply this approach to the case of a government Shared Service provider. Second, we then introduce an analysis method for measuring the carbon dioxide emissions produced during the execution of a business process. To illustrate this approach, we apply it in the real-life case of a European airport and show how this information can be leveraged in the re-design of "green" business processes.

Using reflective practice assessment in the first year of law to encourage a positive professional identity and promote law student well-being

In this paper we argue that intentional curriculum design in the first year of law should encourage law students to develop an emergent sense of a positive professional identity. When first year law students engage with a nascent notion of a positive professional identity, their well-being is supported because their studies are informed and contextualised by a sense of purpose for their future professional life. In a first year law subject run for the first time at the QUT Law School in 2011, reflective practice was successfully used to achieve these goals. The paper discusses the subject, the opportunity of using reflective practice to teach a positive sense of professional identity, and some student perspectives on the subject’s design.