Legal Research
Cases
High Court Bulletin

High Court Bulletin

Link copied

Case Copied 1 November 2017 39 min read

Contents

On this page

High Court Bulletin

Produced by the Legal Research Officer,
High Court of Australia Library

[2017] HCAB 8 (1 November 2017)

A record of recent High Court of Australia cases: decided, reserved for judgment, awaiting hearing in the Court’s original jurisdiction, granted special leave to appeal, refused special leave to appeal and not proceeding or vacated

1: Summary of New Entries
2: Cases Handed Down
3: Cases Reserved
4: Original Jurisdiction
5: Special Leave Granted
6: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated
7: Special Leave Refused

1: Summary of New Entries

2: Cases Handed Down

Case	Title
Brown & Anor v The State of Tasmania	Constitutional Law
Wilkie v The Commonwealth; Australian Marriage Equality Ltd v Cormann	Constitutional Law
Re Canavan; Re Ludlam; Re Waters; Re Roberts (No 2); Re Joyce; Re Nash; Re Xenophon	Court of Disputed Returns
Director of Public Prosecutions v Dalgliesh (A Pseudonym)	Criminal Law
Koani v The Queen	Criminal Law
BRF038 v The Republic of Nauru	Migration

3: Cases Reserved

Case	Title
Australian Building and Construction Commissioner v Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union & Anor	Industrial Law
DWN042 v The Republic of Nauru	Migration

4: Original Jurisdiction

Case	Title
Alley v Gillespie	Constitutional Law

5: Special Leave Granted

Case	Title
Cecil v Director of Public Prosecutions (Nauru); Kepae v Director of Public Prosecutions (Nauru); Jeremiah v Director of Public Prosecutions (Nauru)	Criminal Law
DL v The Queen	Criminal Law
The Queen v Falzon	Criminal Law
Ancient Order of Foresters in Victoria Friendly Society Limited v Lifeplan Australia Friendly Society Limited & Anor	Equity
Traljesic v Bosnia and Herzegovina & Anor	Extradition
SAS Trustee Corporation v Miles	Interpretation
The Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Thomas; The Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Martin Andrew Pty Ltd; The Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Thomas Nominees Pty Ltd; The Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Thomas	Taxation

6: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated

Case	Title
ResourceCo Material Solutions Pty Ltd & Anor v State of Victoria & Anor	Constitutional Law

2: Cases Handed Down

The following cases were handed down by the High Court of Australia during the October 2017 sittings.

Constitutional Law

Brown & Anor v The State of Tasmania

H3/2016: [2017] HCA 43

Judgment delivered: 18 October 2017

Coram: Kiefel CJ, Bell, Gageler, Keane, Nettle, Gordon and Edelman JJ

Catchwords:

Constitutional law (Cth) – Implied freedom of political communication – Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act 2014 (Tas) – Where Act empowers police officers to direct protesters to leave and stay away from business premises and business access areas under pain of arrest and criminal penalties – Where business premises include forestry land – Where Act allows police officers to give such directions if they reasonably believe protester is preventing, hindering or obstructing business activity, has done so, or is about to do so – Where Forestry Tasmania authorised to undertake forest operations in Lapoinya Forest – Where plaintiffs protested in vicinity of forest…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Keep reading for free

Create a free CaseChat account to read High Court Bulletin and more:

Read every judgment in full
Ask AI and get answers linked to paragraphs
See how each paragraph was cited in later cases
Download judgments as PDF or Word

Continue with Google

One click creates your free account or signs you in.

By continuing you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.

Details

Case: [2017] HCAB 8
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the case of Brown & Anor v The State of Tasmania, the High Court considered whether the Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act 2014 (Tas) restricted otherwise lawful protest activity and whether it imposed an impermissible burden on the implied freedom of political communication. The Court held that the Act did restrict lawful protest activity and that it imposed an impermissible burden on the implied freedom of political communication. In Wilkie & Ors v The Commonwealth & Ors; Australian Marriage Equality Ltd & Anor v Cormann & Anor, the Court considered whether the Finance Minister had the authority to make a determination under the Appropriation Act (No 1) 2017-2018 (Cth) to provide funding for a postal survey. The Court held that the Finance Minister did not have the authority to make such a determination. In Re Canavan; Re Ludlam; Re Waters; Re Roberts (No 2); Re Joyce; Re Nash; Re Xenophon, the Court considered whether certain senators were incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or member of the House of Representatives due to holding dual citizenship at the time of their nomination for election. The Court held that the senators were not incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or member of the House of Representatives.

Orders