NPA Seminar Series

Commercial and Corporations

Statutes, common law and common methods: The case of consumer protection and competition law in the Federal Court.

The Federal Court of Australia is pleased to invite practitioners to the next seminar in the National Practice Area Seminar Series, highlighting the Commercial and Corporations practice area of the Court.

The former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and former judge of the Federal Court, the Hon. Robert French AC, will present on the topic Statutes, common law and common method: The case of consumer protection and competition law in the Federal Court.

The Federal Court began as a specialist court concerned with a relatively narrow band of federal statutes. This seminar will address how the limits of that vision were soon dispelled, with the expanding administrative law jurisdiction and jurisdiction in competition and consumer protection law under the Trade Practices Act. This evolution saw the Court became a mainstream commercial law court using common law methodology applied to open-textured statutory provisions which also extended its jurisdiction into substantive common law.

The Hon. Robert French AC served as Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia from 2008 to 2017 and prior to that was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia for more than 20 years. He also served as a Presidential Member of the Australian Competition Tribunal and an Associate Member of the Trade Practices Commission. He brings significant expertise to this lecture.