R v President (Cth) Court of Conciliation and Arbitration and the Federated Engine Drivers' and Firmen's Association of Australasia

The applicants, a group of companies and firms, sought a writ of prohibition from the High Court of Australia directed to the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. They contended that the Arbitration Court lacked jurisdiction to proceed with a plaint filed by the Federated Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Association of Australasia. The basis of their argument was that the matters raised in the plaint were already covered by a subsisting award and registered industrial agreements, and therefore, no industrial dispute extending beyond the limits of one State currently existed.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether a writ of prohibition should issue to prevent the Arbitration Court from hearing the plaint. This required the Court to determine if the applicants had established a clear case of want of jurisdiction, specifically whether the existence of a prior award and agreements effectively extinguished any current dispute, thereby ousting the Arbitration Court's authority to entertain the new plaint. The applicants argued that if the subject matter of the plaint was demonstrably covered by existing determinations, then no dispute existed, and prohibition was a matter of right.

A majority of the High Court, comprising Griffith C.J., Isaacs, Gavan Duffy, and Rich JJ., held that prohibition should not be granted. Griffith C.J. reasoned that the plaint was valid on its face, and the grounds relied upon by the applicants – that the matters were covered by a prior award and agreements – constituted a defence on the merits (akin to res judicata) rather than a fundamental challenge to the Court's jurisdiction. He stated that the Arbitration Court had the jurisdiction to determine such defences. Isaacs, Gavan Duffy, and Rich JJ. agreed that a clear case of want of jurisdiction had not been made out by the applicants. The order nisi for prohibition was accordingly discharged with costs.