Ex parte

This matter concerned an application for a writ of prohibition brought ex parte before the Full Bench of the High Court of Australia. The applicant sought to prohibit the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration from proceeding with a certain arbitration.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the President had acted without or in excess of his jurisdiction in initiating the arbitration proceedings. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the President had the power to commence an arbitration of his own motion, without a formal application or reference from a party to an industrial dispute.

The Court reasoned that the relevant legislation, the *Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904* (Cth), did not grant the President the power to initiate arbitration proceedings unilaterally. The Act contemplated that arbitrations would be commenced upon the lodging of a plaint or a reference by a party. The Court held that the President's actions in commencing the arbitration without such a basis were beyond his statutory authority, constituting an error of jurisdiction.

Consequently, the High Court made absolute the order nisi for a writ of prohibition, thereby restraining the President from further proceeding with the arbitration.