Staats v Hawke

This matter came before a Justice of the High Court of Australia on an application for leave to issue process. The applicant, Mr Staats, sought leave to issue process against the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Robert James Lee Hawke, and the Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. Mr Staats indicated that his application was genuine, necessary, and urgent, and that the matters complained of needed to be declared ultra vires as they constituted a conspiracy to injure.

The legal issue before the Court was whether to grant Mr Staats leave to issue the process. This required the Court to consider whether the process, on its face, appeared to be an abuse of the process of the Court, or a frivolous or vexatious proceeding, as contemplated by Order 58 rule 4(3) of the High Court Rules. The Justice noted two potential objections to the process: firstly, that it might be involved in proceedings already before the Federal Court, and secondly, that the material lodged did not disclose any cause of action warranting the relief sought against the proposed defendants.