Clark v Attorney General of NSW & Anor

Clark
v
Attorney General of NSW & Anor
[2023] HCASL 21
S155/2022

This application for special leave to appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (White JA; Macfarlan and Mitchelmore JJA agreeing) dismissing an application for judicial review of a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Cavanagh J), does not identify any reason to doubt the correctness of the decision of the Court of Appeal. The proposed grounds of appeal, including assertions of jurisdictional error by the Court of Appeal and error of law on the face of the record, have no prospects of success. The application should be dismissed.
Pursuant to r 41.08.1 of the High Court Rules 2004 (Cth), we direct the Registrar to draw up, sign and seal an order dismissing the application.

J.J. Edelman J.S. Gleeson

9 March 2023

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, Clark, sought special leave to appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales which dismissed an application for judicial review of a decision made by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The primary matter at hand was a decision made by Cavanagh J, which was subsequently reviewed by the Court of Appeal. The application for special leave to appeal was brought before the High Court. The central issue was whether the decision of the Court of Appeal was correct and if there were any errors of law or jurisdiction that warranted further review by the High Court.

The High Court examined the proposed grounds of appeal, which included claims of jurisdictional error by the Court of Appeal and errors of law on the face of the record. After careful consideration, the Court found that these grounds did not demonstrate a sufficient probability of success. The Court of Appeal's decision was affirmed as correct, and there was no evidential basis to doubt the correctness of the decision. The application for special leave to appeal was assessed under the relevant rules of the High Court, and it was concluded that there was no merit in proceeding with the appeal.

In accordance with the High Court Rules, the Court directed the Registrar to prepare, sign, and seal an order dismissing the application for special leave to appeal. The reasoning behind the dismissal was based on the lack of identifiable errors in the Court of Appeal's decision, and the absence of any grounds for the appeal to proceed successfully. The High Court's decision emphasised the importance of demonstrating a strong likelihood of success for an application for special leave to appeal to be considered.

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