News: The High Court splits evenly again

Today, the High Court issued its judgment in the last of three six-judge decisions heard in the months before Crennan J’s retirement. As I discussed in this piece in The ConversatIon last December, even-numbered benches are a sporadic, but persistent, by-product of the Court’s composition:

This same problem arises each and every time a High Court judge approaches retirement. Indeed, it’s happening right now. The Court is scheduled to hear six judge cases in important matters through to June next year because two High Court judges are retiring in succession. Any one of them could be another tie. Cases already at risk of being resolved, perhaps irreversibly, by a tie breaker include regulatory action over Sydney’s radio hoax tragedy, a native title claim over a World War Two training ground, and the aftermath of the collapsed tourism, property and finance group, Octaviar bankruptcy.

The radio hoax and bankruptcy cases were resolved unanimously. However, as I feared last year, today’s native title decision was a tie, Continue reading

Queensland v Congoo

Jeremy Gans, ‘News: The High Court Splits Evenly Again’ (13 May 2015).

The High Court has dismissed an appeal from the decision of the Full Federal Court, in which the FCAFC held that military orders made during the Second World War did not extinguish native title rights.The Court split 3:3, which, due to s 23 of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth), means the FCAFC’s decision dismissing Queensland’s appeal stands. Continue reading