Torres Strait Regional Authority v Akiba on Behalf of the Torres Strait Regional Sea Claim

The Torres Strait Regional Authority applied for leave to appeal a decision of the Federal Court of Australia, which had dismissed their claim for native title in the Torres Strait. The respondents, Akiba on behalf of the Torres Strait Regional Sea Claim, opposed the application for leave to appeal. The Federal Court was required to determine whether the application for leave to appeal had a manifest lack of merit.

The court considered the arguments presented by both parties and examined the grounds of appeal. The Torres Strait Regional Authority argued that the primary judge had erred in his interpretation of the applicable law and that there were significant factual errors. However, the court found that the appeal did not have a manifest lack of merit as the arguments were not compelling enough to warrant an appeal. The court noted that the appeal would not succeed and that the application for leave to appeal should be dismissed.

Accordingly, the application for leave to appeal filed on 23 January 2018 was dismissed. Any respondent that wished to seek costs could file and serve a proposed costs order and brief written submissions in support within 14 days of the date of these orders. If any respondent sought costs, the applicant could file and serve brief written submissions in reply within a further 14 days thereafter. Entry of orders was dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.