This week in the High Court of Australia

There are two cases to be heard in the High Court of Australia this week.

First up on Tuesday, 11 December 2012 is Maloney v The Queen, an appeal from a decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal upholding the validity of certain provisions of the Liquor Act 1992 (Qld) prohibiting the possession of alcohol on Palm Island as not being inconsistent with the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth).

Then on Wednesday, 12 December 2012 is Hunt & Hunt Lawyers v Mitchell Morgan Nominees Pty Ltd, which will give the High Court its first opportunity to consider the proportionate liability provisions enacted in more or less uniform terms throughout Australia as part of the civil liability reforms in the early 2000s, and in particular what wrongdoers are “concurrent wrongdoers” for the purposes of those provisions.