Week 4: Overview and introduction to the Australian Legal Framework

Week 4: Overview and introduction to the Australian Legal Framework

(Lawyers, n.d.)

Being a forensic accountant, you must be familiar with the Australian Court Hierarchy and understand basic differences in Civil and Criminal Law. Having basic knowledge of criminal law is as simple as knowing the state is responsible for prosecution whereas in civil law the person claiming they’ve been harmed will initiate a civil action. 

Looking into ASIC v VINES, we saw Mr. Vines, a former GIO officer, chartered accountant, and CFO for the GIO group. It was here Mr Vines was charged with breaching four different provisions of corporate law. Being a big case, we won’t go too deep into it but basically Mr. Vines was accused of knowingly issuing inaccurate forecasts someone in his position should be aware of between 1998-99. This resulted in the Supreme Court becoming aware in 2005 and disqualified Mr. Vines for 3 years and he was ordered to pay a penalty fee of $100,000. His charges came down to breaches in duty of care and due diligence (ASIC v VINES).  

(ASIC, n.d.)
I also read a similar case from 2009, ASIC v RICH. This was similar to ASIC v VINES as there were accusations towards meeting the duty of care and due diligence in their role. Jodee Rich was blamed for the collapse of One.Tel in 2001. In this case Rich was well prepared on the case resulting in there being no charges against him (ASIC v RICH).

The above 2 cases show that it is necessary for forensic accountants to be familiar with the Australian Court Hierarchy and understand basic differences in Civil and Criminal Law. Jodee Rich’s knowledge and ability to prepare for the case against ASIC is what kept him from facing charges like Mr Vines.

 Word Count - 275


References:

ASIC v Vines [2003] NSWSC 1095

ASIC v Rich [2005] NSWSC 650

Lawyers, F. (n.d.). Criminal Law. Retrieved from Furgan Lawyers: https://furganlawyers.com.au/criminal-law/

ASIC. (n.d.). ASIC Regulatory Portal. Retrieved from ASIC: https://regulatoryportal.asic.gov.au/


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