Nulyarimma v Thompson

The case of Nulyarimma v Thompson involved a claim by the applicant, Nulyarimma, that the sponsorship of amendments to the Native Title Act and the failure to seek World Heritage Listing for the Lake Eyre region were acts of genocide. The case was heard in the Federal Court of Australia, where the legal issues centred around the recognition of the crime of genocide in Australian courts in the absence of specific legislation. The court was required to decide whether the crime of genocide, which has universal jurisdiction under international law, could be incorporated into Australian law without a legislative act.

The court reasoned that the claim was non-justiciable and misconceived. It observed that while there might be specific conduct by Commonwealth government agencies or officers that could have harmed the Arabunna people's rights, the current application did not frame such issues in proper legal form. The court concluded that the application was not appropriate for judicial intervention and dismissed it. The court also noted that while the grievances were genuinely held, the application required radical changes to the causes of action and involved different parties.

The court's decision was based on the principle that customary international law does not automatically become part of Australian law unless it is incorporated through legislation or judicial decisions. The court cited the doctrines of incorporation and transformation, explaining that under the doctrine of incorporation, rules of international law are automatically part of English law unless in conflict with an Act of Parliament, while the doctrine of transformation requires rules of international law to be adopted by the decisions of the judges or by Act of Parliament. The court held that in the absence of specific legislation, the crime of genocide could not be prosecuted in Australian courts.

The final orders of the court were to dismiss the appeal in Re Thompson and the proceeding in Buzzacott v Hill and Ors.