The law of contracts, trusts and corporations as criteria of tax liability

The general law of contracts, trusts and corporations may be thought to provide clear and stable criteria for the operation of revenue laws. But experience suggests this expectation may be overoptimistic. This is not to urge increased legislative resort to criteria preferring substance over form, with the attendant temptation to impose what constitutional doctrine would stigmatise as arbitrary imposts. It is to urge legislative vigilance in the selection of particular criteria to implement policy objectives, and to reiterate the necessity for a good tax lawyer to keep up-to-date with the general law

The Injunction in Aid of Legal Rights—An Australian Perspective

In Australia, as in the US, the injunction is rapidly losing its character as an extraordinary equitable remedy. Provisions in Australian constitutional law that pertain to the law of injunctions are discussed

A gatherer's paradise? Early humans and plant foraging on the cape south coast, South Africa

South Africa is a semi-arid country that is experiencing population growth and the associated pressure of producing sufficient crops to sustain the population. Furthermore, poor land management has also led to increased degradation of valuable arable land. To improve poor soil quality and possibly avoid or reverse degradation and ultimately desertification, it was suggested that soil amendments are a potential solution to some of these problems. Although soil amendment is a relatively well-known practice to improve soil quality, the use of rubber crumb as a soil amendment is not well studied. Rubber crumb is produced from end-of-life tyres that have been ground up to fine particles and as such can be used as a secondary resource to replace the use of virgin materials. Rubber crumb has been used in an array of industries, however, the present study investigated the possibility that rubber crumb might be used as a soil amendment to alleviate various forms of soil degradation, specifically soil compaction and crusting, and potentially improve crop establishment and growth.To determine this, a soil that is prone to crusting and compaction was amended with rubber crumb at rates of 5%, 15% and 25%. Various soil physical characteristics, such as bulk density, particle density, porosity, field capacity and penetration resistance were investigated and it was determined that as the percentage rubber crumb increases in the soil, so do the beneficial characteristics of the soil. Furthermore, the rubber crumb was also treated in various ways in order to determine how the treatments might affect the chemical properties of the soil, as well as the amount of zinc that is leached from the rubber crumb. It was found that washing the rubber with a weak acid or even water prior to adding it to the soil resulted in more desirable chemical condition compared to untreated rubber crumb. Lastly, maize (Zea mays L.) was used to determine whether amending soil with pre-treated rubber crumb in different percentages had an influence on the germination success and growth rate of maize. In terms of germination success, amending soil with rubber crumb does not seem to have a significant influence, however, growth rate decreased as the percentage rubber crumb increased, while treating the rubber with a weak acid or water prior to adding it to soil had the most positive effect on plant growth. It can therefore be concluded that rubber crumb amendment rates between 5% and 15% resulted in the most desirable soil physical properties and plant growth amongst the amendments. However the best plant growth was still seen in the control soil, to which no rubber crumb had been added

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

The equitable duties of company directors

This article considers the equitable duties of company directors, including in light of the Bell litigation. Three matters in particular are examined. First, the distinction between directors' fiduciary and other equitable duties is analysed, and the dif

The 2017 Winterton Lecture: Sir Owen Dixon Today

In chapter 9 of his book The Constitution and the New Deal, published in 2000, Professor G. Edward White has traced the “canonisation” and “demonization” of Supreme Court Justices with particular reference on the one side to Justices Holmes and Brandeis and on the other side to Justices Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland and Butler (“the Four Housemen of Reaction”). The author convincingly demonstrates the difficulty, after quiet reflection upon their judicial work, in attaching to judges conclusory labels such as “liberal”, “progressive”, “reactionary”; the processes of adjudication are simply too complex to be characterised in such a fashion

The In Personam Exception to Torrens Indefeasibility

The adoption by the Privy Council and the High Court of "immediate indefeasibility" respecting the Torrens system also involved the qualification respecting in personam claims against the registered proprietor. This has given rise to extensive litigation which settles many questions but leaves others outstanding. This article addresses first that course of decisions in Australia and New Zealand and secondly the doctrinal basis upon which equity interacts in this way with the statutory regime of title by registration