Courtney Docket

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NEWS

Commercialisation of legal research … Austlii responds to news about startups entering the field of legal research … “Free and anonymous access to primary legal information is a human right in a democratic society governed by the rule of law”

POLITICS MEDIA LAW SOCIETY

Long tail of the law … Silencing Silenced … Where’s Linda’s loot? … Faruqi v Hanson … MacInnes v Wilson … Dirty bathwater … The High Court beckons … Angus Taylor snared in Catholic mafia’s web … ICAC gets close to the flame

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Articles, Opinions, Notions & Cases

The Australian

Parliamentary review of NSW Law Society's monopoly control of solicitors indemnity insurance ... LawCover in the frame
The Saturday Paper

Alan Jones goes to Mark Foys
Financial Review

Farewell Tony Hartnell ... Allens partner, corporate czar, horse breeder, one half of Antagonistic & Heartless, and trencherman extraordinaire
The New Yorker

The delusions of Chief Justice John Roberts ... He just can't see the bias
Guardian Australia

Victorian government flags amendments to the Open Courts Act ... Review underway ... Interim suppression orders for accused rapists to be restricted ... Outcry over orders granted to Ralph (The Rug) Carr and Tom Silvagni
The Australian

Allens' scant investigation into KPMG ... Just two 30-minute interviews with former KPMG partners with a finding that whistleblower's allegations were unsubstantiated ... 61-page report released by parliamentary committee

Jonathan Sumption … On judges keeping their noses out of government policy

JUSTINIAN COLUMNISTS

How bad is Trump, really? … Crimes at the heart of presidential power … Shakedowns, extortions, insider trading, cash for pardons, revenge … And here comes Trump’s enabler, Todd Blanche … Breaking into the backdoor of the Treasury in broad daylight … Roger Fitch with his Letter from Washington

... Read more >>

NEWS SNIP

CEO and Principal Registrar … Succession plan underway for top administrative job at the Federal Court … Head hunters looking for someone who ideally possesses legal qualifications and is ideally based in Sydney or Melbourne

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JUSTINIAN’S BLOGGERS

To catch a thief … Self-defence in Italy … Outcry over jail term for man defending his property … Death on the footpath … Right-wing politicians vie for the cause … Pardon not appropriate … Politicisation of criminal justice … Our Rome correspondent Silvana Olivetti reports

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FLATULENCE

“This was part of an iterative back-and-forth process in the beginning of the due diligence phase I was conducting on this potential supplier, letting them know at least some baseline requirements of what might be required for us to – for me, in the documentation, on the documentary basis, for the due diligence to continue.”

Evidence to ICAC by the former head of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas McInerney, describing the process in hiring Beckington, a bogus PR and lobbying outfit, used to wash the schools’ money for stacking Liberal branches with hard-line Catholics. August 14, 2026

... Read More Flatulence >>

JUSTINIAN FEATURETTES

Patrick Mullins … Justinian’s interview with biographer Patrick Mullins … Political profiles … Crime and scandal in rackety nineteenth-century Sydney … His latest book The Stained Man is a triumph … The story of the lawyer-hero, the fall from grace, and the campaign for restoration… On The Couch

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JUSTINIAN’S ARCHIVE

Snouts in government trough … Everyone likes a good story about lawyers’ fees … We’ve reached back to March 1994, to the days of hard copy, and found the money shelled out by the AGS to lawyers in the 1993 financial year … Many went on to fame and bigger fortune … Justinian’s Archive, March 1994

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Tender is the Night

Courtney Docket Saturday, July 18, 2026

Federal Court’s new short-term contracts for transcription services … Bringing it home more cheaply … Calculating how far the money can spread … Courtney Docket reports

Fragments from the Federales

Courtney Docket Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Transcription update … Money for jam … AGS lawyers dropped in by parachute … Senior flack position for courts and tribunal … “Hero judge” mooted for NACC … Courtney Docket files from courtside

Chop, dice, mince

Courtney Docket Friday, June 5, 2026

Judicial guru overturned on income tax ruling … Commissioner triumphs before the Full Feds …Are payments of $33 million taxable income or a loving family gift? … Spare change from offshore business … Courtney Docket on the case

Cut and Paste at ART

Courtney Docket Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Glue pot in heavy use at Administrative Review Tribunal … Former South Australian Attorney General answers the wrong question and applies out-of-date Ministerial Direction … Misunderstanding the task at hand … Go back, start again … Courtney Docket reports from the FCA

Titles and status update

Courtney Docket Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Rebranding for top Federal Court jobs … Status shift … “Senior” monikers are in … Simplification … Shock for all … Bureaucracy at work … An “impasse” in determination of a veteran’s Gold Card and pension … Judge’s daughter employed by AGS … Recusal called for … Courtney Docket has the details

Tender parts

Courtney Docket Thursday, February 19, 2026

Specialist shop brought into the Federal Court to probe sensitive workplace issue … Procurement outside usual procedures … Skewhiff notifications on AusTender … Unauthorised subcontracting of transcription services … Sensitive information afloat … From our Federal Court hand, Courtney Docket

On the road with Darryl Rangiah

Courtney Docket Friday, January 30, 2026

Bitter victory … No costs for lawyer in successful migration appeal from “Biggles” Egan … Confusion as to the meaning of the word “temporarily” … The argument as a “kernel” … Bellamy busted for apprehended bias … Courtney Docket reports