Rita Cameron v Qantas Airways Ltd

RITA CAMERON
v
QANTAS AIRWAYS LTD & ANOR
[2012] HCASL 7
S327/2011

The applicant seeks special leave to appeal against orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Macfarlan and Whealy JJA) dismissing the applicant's application for leave to appeal against orders of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (Latham J). Latham J ordered that an amended statement of claim filed by the applicant seeking damages and other relief from the respondents be struck out pursuant to r 14.28 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (NSW), that leave not be granted to replead, and that the proceedings be summarily dismissed under r 13.4 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules.
As the applicant is unrepresented, the application falls to be dealt with under r 41.10 of the High Court Rules 2004.
The applicant's written submissions advance no ground or argument which could justify a grant of special leave. The application concerns a matter of practice and procedure and an exercise of discretion in accordance with settled principles. An appeal to this Court would enjoy no prospects of success.
Pursuant to r 41.10.5 we direct the Registrar to draw up, sign and seal an order dismissing the application.

K.M. Hayne
9 February 2012 S.M. Crennan

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The High Court of Australia heard an application for special leave to appeal from Rita Cameron against Qantas Airways Ltd and another. Cameron sought to appeal against the orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which had dismissed her application for leave to appeal against the orders of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The primary judge, Latham J, had struck out an amended statement of claim filed by Cameron seeking damages and other relief from the respondents, denied leave to replead, and summarily dismissed the proceedings.

The legal issues before the court were whether the Court of Appeal's dismissal of Cameron's application for leave to appeal was an exercise of discretion that warranted special leave to appeal and whether Cameron's application had any prospects of success. The application for special leave to appeal involved a matter of practice and procedure and the exercise of judicial discretion, which typically would not justify special leave unless there were exceptional circumstances.

In assessing the application, the court found that Cameron's written submissions did not advance any grounds or arguments that could justify a grant of special leave. The exercise of discretion by the Court of Appeal in dismissing the application for leave to appeal was consistent with settled principles, and an appeal to the High Court would not have any prospects of success. Accordingly, the application was dismissed, and the Registrar was directed to draw up, sign, and seal an order to that effect.

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