R v Joske; Ex parte Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association

The applicant, the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association, sought a writ of prohibition against the respondent, Mr. Joske, a Deputy Industrial Registrar, to prevent him from proceeding with a deregistration inquiry concerning the applicant. The dispute centred on the Registrar's power to initiate such an inquiry under the relevant industrial legislation.

The central legal issue before the High Court of Australia was whether the Deputy Industrial Registrar had the authority to initiate an inquiry into the deregistration of an organisation under section 143(1) of the *Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904* (Cth) without a specific request or direction from the Industrial Registrar. The Court had to determine the scope of the Deputy Registrar's powers and the conditions precedent to the commencement of a deregistration inquiry.

The Court held that the Deputy Industrial Registrar did not possess the independent power to initiate a deregistration inquiry under section 143(1) of the Act. The provision required the Industrial Registrar to be satisfied that an organisation had failed to comply with the Act or its rules, and it was the Industrial Registrar, not a Deputy Registrar, who was empowered to initiate the inquiry. The Court reasoned that the role of a Deputy Registrar was to exercise powers delegated by the Industrial Registrar, and in the absence of such delegation or a specific direction, a Deputy Registrar could not unilaterally commence a deregistration process. Consequently, the Court made absolute the order nisi for prohibition.