In this session I discuss the operation of severance in the doctrine of restraint of trade, and , in particular, problems encountered by the use of mechanically generated ladder clauses. The courts have complained this leaves them in the position of being asked to issue advisory opinions and determining what , if anything, the parties have agreed to. This practice arguably reached reached its apogee in Austra Tanks Pty Ltd v Running 1982 NSWLR 840 in which the 80,000 plus permutations before the court were condemned as a “malevolent covenant.” This case was referred to in the 1984 British Columbia Law Reform Commission Report on Covenants in Restraint of Trade. (LRC 74 April 1984)
See http://www.bcli.org/pages/publications/lrcreports/reports(html)/Lrc74text.html

We then turn to an overview of the competition provisions of the TPA. Our discussion here is concerned to explain the pattern of constitutional interpretation that delayed the establishment of effective competition law statutes in Australia, and how changes in constitutional interpretation, combined with a degree of constitutional overkill, have ensured that the TPA has survived.

Finally, we discuss the concerns of civil celebrants that there will be an oversupply in that industry if “character” and territorial considerations are discarded in a foreshadowed de-regulation of requirements to become a celebrant.

Brief comparisons are suggested with the position of newsagents and pharmacists.

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