Re Sinanovic's Application

This matter concerned an application made to the High Court of Australia by Mr Sinanovic, seeking leave to proceed with a second application for special leave to appeal. The Registrar had previously been directed by a Justice to refuse to issue process without the leave of a Justice first being obtained.

The central legal issue before Kirby J was whether exceptional circumstances existed to warrant the reopening of a previously refused special leave application, and whether there had been a material change in circumstances since the initial refusal. The court was required to consider the nature and purpose of such an application and the High Court's powers to revisit its own interlocutory determinations.

Kirby J applied the principles governing the reopening of interlocutory determinations, particularly in the context of special leave applications. His Honour noted that such applications are rare and require a high threshold to be met, typically involving a significant change in circumstances or the emergence of a new ground that was not previously argued or considered. In this instance, Kirby J found that the grounds proposed for reopening had been argued and considered in the original special leave hearing, and no exceptional circumstances or change of circumstances had been established to justify a departure from the initial refusal.

The application was therefore refused.