Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd v Nicholls (No 11)

Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd sought leave to appeal seven interlocutory judgments of Loukas-Karlsson J, who had been sitting as a single judge of the Court of Appeal of the Australian Capital Territory. These judgments, delivered between May 2022 and February 2023, primarily concerned applications for security for costs and related procedural matters, all of which were determined adversely to the applicant. The applications for leave to appeal were heard by a single judge of the Court of Appeal.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether it possessed the jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a decision made by a single justice comprising the Court of Appeal. This question arose after the sixth respondent submitted that the Court lacked such jurisdiction, a point not previously raised by the applicant. The Court also considered the applicant's subsequent filing of a Notice of Discontinuance in respect of the applications for leave to appeal.

The Court determined that, pursuant to section 37E of the *Supreme Court Act 1933* (ACT), there was no jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a decision of a single justice of the Court of Appeal. The Court reasoned that the Act provided for appeals from decisions of the Court of Appeal constituted by more than one judge, but not from decisions made by a single judge sitting as the Court of Appeal. While the applicant had filed a Notice of Discontinuance, the Court noted that the primary issue of jurisdiction remained and that the discontinuance did not confer jurisdiction where none existed.

Consequently, the applications for leave to appeal were dismissed for want of jurisdiction.