Re The Operative Plasterers Workers Federation of Australia & Ors; Ex parte Brown

This matter concerned an application for writs of mandamus and certiorari brought by S.R. & Z.L. Brown & Ors against members of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, specifically Senior Deputy President Michael Keogh, Deputy President Ian Watson, and Commissioner Gregory Smith, as well as several industrial unions including The Operative Plasterers Workers Federation of Australia. The prosecutors sought an order nisi for these writs to be made returnable before a Full Bench of the High Court.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Australian Industrial Relations Commission had committed a jurisdictional error in its proceedings. The prosecutors contended that the Commission had either failed to exercise its jurisdiction or had exercised it improperly, which would warrant the granting of the requested writs. The Court was required to determine if the alleged errors constituted a jurisdictional error, as distinct from a mere error in arbitral principle, which would not be grounds for certiorari.

The Court's reasoning, as indicated by the transcript, focused on the distinction between jurisdictional error and errors within jurisdiction. The prosecutor's argument was that the Commission's actions amounted to a failure to exercise jurisdiction or an improper exercise of it. However, the Court expressed a preliminary view that, based on its reading of the material, the alleged errors appeared to be within the Commission's jurisdiction, rather than jurisdictional errors. The prosecutor was therefore tasked with demonstrating in detail how the Commission's conduct constituted a jurisdictional error.