Editorial

摘要

In this final Part of Volume 34 of the Journal it is interesting to reflect on the cases reported in the past year. These cases confirm that issues of great practical importance continue to arise in construction law.Volume 34 contains two High Court cases on security of payment and statutory adjudication, namely Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd and Maxcon Constructions Pty Ltd v Vadasz. It also includes several other important decisions on security of payment throughout Australia. It is striking that novel and complex questions of law continue to arise in this area. The decisions reported include those of the Courts of Appeal of New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory and the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia. Also reported is the decision of McDougall J in Southern Cross Electrical Engineering Ltd v Steve Magill Earthmoving Pty Ltd. It is appropriate to note, upon McDougall J's recent retirement from the Supreme Court of New South Wales, that he has made a distinguished and extraordinary contribution to the development of construction law in Australia and beyond.The reported decisions on security of payment and statutory adjudication deal with topics including whether a determination can be quashed on the basis of non-jurisdictional error, the concept of jurisdictional error in this context, pay-when-paid provisions, set-off, severability, procedural fairness, date of practical completion, jurisdictional issues, the effect of contractual deeming provisions, garnishee orders, the concept of unreasonableness, service, and the nature of the adjudicator's obligation to provide reasons.