This week in the High Court of Australia

There is only one case being heard by the High Court of Australia this week.

In Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v JM the Court will hear an appeal from the Victorian Court of Appeal in a share market manipulation case.  In essence the question for consideration is whether the meaning of the phrase “artificial price” within the meaning of section 1041 of the Corporations Act 2001 is to be informed by the US jurisprudence relating to “cornering” and “squeezing”, concepts derived from trading in the futures markets that have no practical application in the equities market with which the prosecution of the respondent was concerned.  More generally, the cases raises important issues in relation to statutory construction, and in particular the use, and utility, or extrinsic material.