Australasia
Australia
Australian
construction law society formed - 3 June
Australia's Society of Construction Law (SCL) was launched at a
function in Melbourne last week by John Digby QC, chairman of the
Victorian Bar Council. The society aims to promote the education,
study and research into construction law and related subjects in
Australia and oversees for the benefit of the public and the
construction industry. - Construction
Contractor website
Australia
targets cartel conduct with new criminal and civil offenses
- 24 June
Following the international trend towards criminalizing cartel
offenses, the Australian Senate passed a bill on June 16 that
amends the key antitrust law in Australia, the Trade Practices Act
1974, by introducing parallel civil and criminal sanctions on
cartel conduct. The Trade Practices
Amendment (Cartel Conduct and Other Measures) Bill 2009 now
awaits Royal Assent (provided by the Governor-General of
Australia), which is expected in about one week. The law will
become effective 28 days thereafter. - Mondaq
website
New Zealand
Pleading
case for death with dignity - 4 June
Sean Davison watched his mother try to starve herself to death to
escape the cancer ransacking her life. Patricia Davison understood
her body's collapse, having practised as a GP and psychiatrist. At
84, she was still acutely intelligent, but multiple cancers had
robbed her of her joys - painting, reading, her ability to engage
in the world she loved. Determined to die, she summoned Davison
from his South African home and asked him to help her. She kept up
a hunger strike for 35 days. Finally, Patricia, who practised
under the name Fergusson, died in her Dunedin home on October 25,
2006. In his diary, Davison detailed the appalling
experience of watching someone you love diminish and suffer. This
month, an edited version of his diary entries will be published as
Before We Say Goodbye. Auckland-born Davison, a professor
of biotechnology in Cape Town, is arriving back in New Zealand
today ahead of the book's launch. While he's here, he will
publicly press for the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia. - New
Zealand Herald website
|