Dunn v McCarthy

The Full Federal Court considered an application for leave to appeal against a decision of a single judge who had determined that the Federal Court lacked jurisdiction. The applicant sought to appeal this jurisdictional ruling.

The primary legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether to grant leave to appeal against the single judge's finding of no jurisdiction. This involved assessing whether the single judge's decision was demonstrably correct and whether there remained any genuine controversy or "live issue" to be determined by the appellate court.

The Court concluded that the single judge's decision on jurisdiction was clearly correct, and consequently, there was no real prospect of success on appeal. Given this, and the absence of any live issue, the Court determined that it was appropriate to revoke the leave to appeal that had previously been granted. The applicant was ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings in the Full Federal Court.