Edwards v Santos Limited (No 3)

The case of Edwards v Santos Limited (No 3) involved the applicants, who were seeking to challenge the dismissal of their case due to apprehended bias, appealing to the High Court against the Federal Court's refusal of their application for leave to appeal. The applicants had originally been involved in proceedings against Santos Limited, which were dismissed due to an apprehended bias by a judge. The Federal Court had previously dismissed their application for leave to appeal against this decision, and the applicants sought to appeal this decision to the High Court.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the applicants had waived their right to complain about the apprehended bias by seeking a remedy of mandamus in the High Court. The court was required to determine whether the act of seeking mandamus in the High Court could be considered a waiver of any conduct constituting bias, and whether the applicants had effectively pressed their mandamus application.

The High Court found that the applicants had indeed waived their right to complain about the apprehended bias. The court held that seeking mandamus in the High Court was a form of pressing the matter, and since the applicants did not seek that the matter be heard by a different judge in the High Court or Full Court, they had effectively waived their right to complain about the apprehended bias. The court also noted that the matters not pressed by the respondents did not affect the outcome of the case.

The High Court dismissed the applicants' application for leave to appeal and affirmed the decision of the Full Court. The court held that there was no reasonable apprehension of bias and that the applicants had waived their right to complain about the apprehended bias by seeking mandamus in the High Court. The application made by the applicants' notice of motion filed 9 June 2011 is dismissed, as per Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.