R v Hickman; ex parte Fox and Clinton

In *R v Hickman; ex parte Fox and Clinton*, the High Court of Australia considered applications for writs of prohibition. The applicants, S. & M. Fox and Clinton Coal Carrying Co., sought to prevent a Local Reference Board, constituted under the National Security (Coal Mining Industry Employment) Regulations, from proceeding with orders that declared them to be engaged in the coal mining industry and thus subject to specific awards. The Federated Mining Mechanics Association of Australasia was the respondent in both matters.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Local Reference Board had acted within its jurisdiction when it determined that the applicant companies and their employees were engaged in the coal mining industry. The Regulations stipulated that the Board's authority was limited to industrial matters relating to the coal mining industry. The applicants contended that their businesses, primarily haulage and transport contracting, were distinct from the coal mining industry, even though they transported coal. A further issue was the effect of Regulation 17, which purported to prevent any challenge or questioning of a Board's decision in any court.

The Court reasoned that the jurisdiction of a Local Reference Board was expressly confined to the coal mining industry by the Regulations. It held that an authority with limited jurisdiction cannot grant itself jurisdiction by an erroneous finding of fact or a misinterpretation of the law upon which its jurisdiction depends, unless a specific provision grants it the power to act on its own opinion. The Court found that the applicants, as haulage contractors who transported various materials including coal, were engaged in the transport industry, not the coal mining industry. The mere act of carrying coal from a colliery did not, in the circumstances, place them within the coal mining industry. The Court also affirmed that Regulation 17, which sought to oust the jurisdiction of the courts, could not override the constitutional power of the High Court under Section 75(v) of the Constitution to issue writs of prohibition against officers of the Commonwealth acting in excess of their authority.

Consequently, the High Court made absolute the orders nisi for prohibition, finding that the Local Reference Board had acted without jurisdiction in determining that the applicants were engaged in the coal mining industry. The decisions of the Board were therefore quashed.