Commonwealth v Oliver

The Commonwealth of Australia (the appellant) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which had granted a writ of habeas corpus to the respondent, Mr Oliver. Mr Oliver had been arrested and detained under a warrant issued by the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, pursuant to section 18 of the *National Security Act 1939* (Cth). The dispute concerned the legality of Mr Oliver's detention.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Attorney-General had acted within his powers under section 18 of the *National Security Act 1939* (Cth) when issuing the warrant for Mr Oliver's detention. Specifically, the Court had to consider whether the Attorney-General had a duty to inform himself of the grounds upon which he was empowered to issue such a warrant, and whether the evidence before him was sufficient to justify the exercise of that power.

Dixon C.J., Menzies and Owen JJ held that the Attorney-General, in exercising the power conferred by section 18, was not required to follow any particular procedure or to inform himself in any specific way. The Court found that the Attorney-General's belief that it was necessary to detain Mr Oliver for the purpose of preventing assistance being given to the enemy was sufficient to justify the issue of the warrant. The Court emphasised that the power was discretionary and that the subjective satisfaction of the Attorney-General was the operative factor. The appeal was allowed, and the writ of habeas corpus was discharged.