Cyber bullying – or bullying through the use of technology – is a growing phenomenon which is currently most commonly experienced by young people and the consequences manifested in schools.Cyber bullying shares many of the same attributes as face-to-face bullying such as a power imbalance and a sense of helplessness on the part of the target.Not surprisingly, targets of face-to-face bullying are increasingly turning to the law, and it is likely that targets of cyber bullying may also do so in an appropriate case.This article examines the various criminal, civil and vilification laws that may apply to cases of cyber bullying and assesses the likely effectiveness of these laws as a means of redressing that power imbalance between perpetrator and target.

The cry for plain English is still heard, but not so loudly in recent times. In the 1980’s it was touted as the panacea for inscrutability in legislation and legal expression. In its wake, fundamental changes were made to the way that legislation and law were written and presented, and the fingerprints of those changes – finely structured and labeled provisions, preference for everyday, non-legalistic words, separate and generous dictionaries, bolded terms, etc. – are common in modern legislation and consumer contracts. Unfortunately, what is as common today as ever is the blank expression on the face of a student grappling with a rather elementary provision, or the more hostile look of a client who just ‘doesn’t get it’.Similarly, graphic and pictorial formats have been promoted as promising solutions to the difficulties of understanding law, but again the results are less tangible. While it is common to see features like concept maps and flow charts within course materials and even legislation, in the educational arena any consequent improvement in legal problem-solving is elusive.This article summarises the author’s research into the cognitive and linguistic reasons for common difficulties in comprehending law written in natural language, and the pros and cons of symbolic and graphical alternatives. It also documents some visual methods that have been implemented with some success in a modern organisational setting.

This purpose of this essay is twofold.First, it seeks to clarify what exactly a maritime lien is.It does this by examining the history of maritime liens and the rationale behind them.Second, it comparesthe Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Todd Shipyards Corporation v Altema Compania Maritima SA (‘The Ioannis Daskalelis’)and the Privy Council’s decision in Bankers Trust International Ltd v Todd Shipyards Corporation (‘The Halcyon Isle’). Both decisions would undoubtedly influence the High Court should the Court grant special leave to a case concerning the recognition and enforcement of foreign maritime liens.After examining the state of the law in Australia, the essay concludes that – although a new international convention on maritime liens that had the popular support of the world’s littoral states would be ideal – the High Court should follow the Supreme Court of Canada rather than the Privy Council.

Early Irish law is interpreted through translations of law texts that date back to the 7th Century CE. These texts reveal a highly developed legal system, complete with a professional body of lawyers, judges and legal concepts familiar to modern jurists. One such example is the idea of ‘truth’ in legal proceedings. Which evidence is valid? Whose testimony is sound? The methods of early Irish law in answering these questions pose a challenge to established preconceptions of the early Irish.

In Cook v Cook the Australian High Court held that the standard of reasonable care owed by a learner driver to an instructor, conscious of the driver's lack of experience, was lower than that owed to other passengers and road users. Recently, in Imbree v McNeilly, the High Court declined to follow this principle, concluding that the driver's status or relationship with the claimant should no longer influence or alter the standard of care owed. The decision therefore provides an opportunity to re-examine the rationale and policy behind current jurisprudence governing the standard of care owed by learner drivers.In doing so, this article considers the principles relevant to determining the standard and Imbree's implications for other areas of tort law and claimant v defendant relationships.It argues that Imbree was influenced by changing judicial perceptions concerning the vulnerability of driving instructors and the relevance of insurance to tortious liability.