Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Inc) & Ors v The State of Western Australia

The parties to this proceeding before the High Court of Australia were the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Inc) and Catherine Patricia Crawford (the plaintiffs), and the State of Western Australia (the defendant). The dispute concerned an application by the defendant for the remittal of action No P21 of 1992 to the Supreme Court of Western Australia pursuant to section 44 of the Judiciary Act. The defendant sought this remittal to enable two actions, which raised identical questions of law, to be dealt with together by the same court.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether to grant the defendant's application to remit the entire matter to the Supreme Court of Western Australia. This involved considering the procedural stage of the proceedings in the High Court, where a statement of claim had been filed but no defence. The defendant also sought a direction regarding the time within which it should plead in the Supreme Court following the remittal.

The court's reasoning focused on the defendant's submission that remittal was appropriate to ensure procedural uniformity and efficiency, particularly as the Supreme Court had already directed that similar proceedings be expedited and heard by its Full Court. The defendant argued that the High Court's procedural options, such as demurrer, were not directly equivalent in the Supreme Court, and that remittal would allow the actions to be made identical in form and substance. The question of justiciability was also raised, with the defendant asserting that the issue was either justiciable before the High Court or not, and that it was odd to suggest it was justiciable before one court but not the other.

The High Court made an order remitting action No P21 of 1992 to the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The court also directed that the time limited for the delivery of a defence by the defendant be 16 October 1992. No agreement was reached between the parties regarding costs.