In late 2022, the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Bill 2022 passed both houses of the federal parliament. The relevant laws take effect from 9 November 2023 and significantly bolster the Unfair Contract Terms (UCT) regime in Australia.For business owners and managers who are unfamiliar with the UCT regime, now is the time to revisit these laws. Unfair Contract TermsUCT laws have been in place since 2010 for consumer contracts, and since 2016 for ‘small business contracts’.The purpose of the UCT laws is to prevent reliance on unfair terms in standard form contracts when dealing with consumers and small businesses.…
Tag: business law news articles
First successful federal age discrimination case leads to $232,000 awarded to employee who was “forced to retire”
Age discrimination has been an area of some discussion with human resources and people and culture teams with concerns over fitness for work, use of technology, physical ability and ability to adapt and change are brought into question. There are of course some positions where there are specific legal obligations around age retirement. However, in Australia most discrimination cases have been battled out in general protections claims or state discrimination cases. The Federal Court of Australia case of Gutierrez v MUR Shipping Australia Pty Limited (No 2) [2023] FCA 567 now represents a landmark for age discrimination in the federal space as a now 73 year old accountant has taken on his Employer and won a substantial payout of $232,000.…
Bilingual cities and towns in Quebec join forces to mount legal challenge to Bill 96
Twenty-three municipalities in Quebec have joined together to ask the courts to suspend parts of Quebec’s new language law, which they describe as abusive, while they contest it. All of the cities and towns taking part in the challenge, including Côte Saint-Luc, Beaconsfield, Dorval, Kirkland, Montreal West and Westmount have bilingual status. The Act respecting French, the official and common language of Quebec, amends several pieces of Quebec legislation, including the Charter of the French Language, making it more difficult to receive services in English. The mayors say they are concerned about communications, illegal searches and seizures, government grants and the obligation, set out in the law, to discipline public employees who break the rules by working in English.…
Polish president seeks experts’ advice on contentious law targeting opposition
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Iranian refugees from Toronto facing deportation fears persecution
Feminist film producer Mahshid Ahangarani Farahani came to Canada from Iran to study almost 20 years ago. Shortly thereafter, she applied for and was granted refugee status due to the deteriorating political situation in her homeland and the fears she had of being persecuted for having opposed the regime. Now, after almost two decades of living peacefully in Canada, the long-time North York resident is unexpectedly facing deportation back to Iran, where her films are banned and a warrant is out for her arrest, says her immigration lawyer Hana Marku. Her deportation may not be imminent – Canada has paused removal orders to Iran as that country is experiencing a humanitarian crisis – but the threat hangs over her just the same.…
The Ontario law federation raises alarm over dwindling number of lawyers in remote areas
The Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA) is raising concerns over access to justice as the number of practicing law professionals in rural and remote areas of the province of dwindles. FOLA, which represents 46 district and county associations in Ontario, put forward a motion last week that calls on the Law Society of Ontario to develop a strategy for attracting and retaining law professionals in underserved communities. “We hear from communities all across Ontario about the lack of lawyers who are moving to fill gaps in service in smaller communities, and these are predominantly northern communities and rural communities,” said Douglas Judson, FOLA’s chair.…
Law will end time limit on Maryland child sex abuse lawsuits
Article content ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation on Tuesday to end Maryland’s statute of limitations for when civil lawsuits for child sexual abuse can be filed against institutions. Article content The bill signing comes less than a week after the state’s attorney general released a report that documented the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups. Under current law, people in Maryland who say they were sexually abused as children can’t sue after they reach the age of 38. “There is no statute of limitations on the hurt that endures for decades after someone is assaulted,” Moore, a Democrat, said.…