Re Director of Public Prosecutions (Commonwealth); Ex parte Lawler

The applicants, Kevin Joseph Lawler and Derek Michael Price, sought writs of prohibition and certiorari from the High Court of Australia. The dispute concerned the validity of a forfeiture order made under the *Fisheries Management Act 1991* (Cth) in relation to a vessel used in the commission of an offence. The Director of Public Prosecutions was the respondent, and the Commonwealth Attorney-General intervened in support of the legislation.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether section 106(1)(a) of the *Fisheries Management Act 1991*, which empowered a court to order the forfeiture of a vessel used in the commission of a specified offence, was a valid law of the Commonwealth. This question arose in circumstances where the vessel was owned by a third party who claimed to be innocent of any involvement in the offence. The applicants also contended that sections 106(1)(a) and 106(3) of the Act, when read together, were invalid.

The applicants argued that section 106(1)(a) was invalid because it authorised the forfeiture of property belonging to an innocent third party. They contended that the offence in question, under section 100(2) of the Act, related to the use of a foreign boat for commercial fishing without a licence. The forfeiture order was made pursuant to section 106(1)(a), which permits forfeiture of a boat used in the commission of such an offence. Section 106(3) further stipulated that a forfeited boat becomes the property of the Commonwealth. The applicants sought to demonstrate that the owners of the vessel were innocent of any complicity in the offence.