Function and purpose

This series documents cases heard before the Full Court of the High Court of Australia that were registered at the Queensland registry of the High Court between 1903 and the end of 1973.  This series also includes Court Book case records heard by a single Justice from 1958 till the end of 1973.

1. Full Court cases
The term 'Full Court' referred to the number of Justices[i] hearing a case and distinguishes these records from Court Book or Cause Book case records that were usually heard by a single Justice.  Section 19 of the Judiciary Act (1903) stated that any two or more Justices of the High Court sitting together constituted a Full Court.  In High Court practise, 3 or 5 Justices hear appeals from State and Federal Courts and all 7 Justices sit as a Full Court for particularly important cases, including all constitutional cases[ii]. 

The Full Court hears and determines two broad categories of cases - Appeal cases and Cause cases.

·      Appeal cases

The majority of cases in this series come under the appellate jurisdiction of the High Court.  These are cases brought to the High Court to appeal against the judgement of a lower court.  If the appeal is allowed (successful) the decision of the lower court is reversed.  If the appeal is dismissed, the decision of the lower court is affirmed.

The Judiciary Act prescribed a Full Court for appeals from the following:

1. The Full Court of a State Supreme Court.  A minimum number of 3 justices were also prescribed to hear these appeals.
2. A justice of the High Court exercising the original jurisdiction of the High Court
3. A State Supreme Court exercising federal jurisdiction when exercised by a single judge
4. Any other court exercising federal jurisdiction: this included some Magistrate's courts
5. The Inter-State Commission (established by the Constitution but no longer in existence).

As the Queensland High Court Registry has recorded this series, most of the appeals will come from Queensland courts - predominately the Queensland State Supreme Court. The series also contains appeals from other State Supreme Courts if the case was lodged in Queensland or the Full Court decided to hear the case in Queensland. 

This series does not include appeals from the Family Court of Australia nor the Federal Court of Australia as these courts were established after the date range of this series.  Appeals from these courts will be found in the subsequent series (CRS A12918). 

Right of appeal
Until the 1984 amendments to the Judiciary Act, there was a right of appeal to the High Court from the State Supreme Courts in civil matters where the monetary or property value involved was significant (£300 in 1903) or where the outcome may affect a person's status under laws relating to aliens, matrimony, divorce or financial debt. 

Application for special leave to appeal
Apart from those mentioned in Right of Appeal above, all other civil cases and all criminal cases, had to submit an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court.  The Judiciary Act stated that applications for special leave to appeal to the High Court could be heard and determined either by a single justice or by a Full Court.    However, in practice, the Full Court generally heard applications for special leave.  Successful applications were usually those cases with either significant legal issues or with significant irregularities in the way they had been handled by previous courts[iii]

·      Cause cases

These are cases that begin in the High Court of Australia because they fall under the original jurisdiction of the High Court.  The Australian Constitution gives the High Court the power to hear and determine all matters:

1. Arising under any treaty
2. Affecting consuls or other representatives of other countries
3. In which the Commonwealth, or a person suing or being sued on behalf of the Commonwealth, is a party
4. Between States, or between residents of different States, or between a State and a resident of another State
5. In which a writ of Mandamus[iv] or prohibition or an injunction is sought against an officer of the Commonwealth
   
   

In addition, the Constitution gave parliament the power to make laws conferring original jurisdiction on the High Court in any matter

1. Arising under the Constitution or involving its interpretation
2. Arising under any laws made by the Parliament
3. Of Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction
4. Relating to the same subject matter claimed under the laws of different States.

The Judiciary Act stated that a single justice of the High Court can refer any case or question to the Full Court and the Full Court will have the power to hear and determine the case or question.  This was the principal route that matters within the original jurisdiction of the High Court reached the Full Court.  It enables a single Justice to ensure that the Full Court hears legally significant or complex matters and all matters involving interpretation of the Constitution.[v]

2 Single justice cases

Single Justice cases were traditionally described as being 'heard in chambers' and section 16 of the Judiciary Act discusses jurisdiction in chambers.  However, this did not mean that they were confidential matters.  Generally, they were open to the public and the records of these cases are treated the same as for open court hearings[vi].  Single Justices could hear Cause cases and those Appeal cases not prescribed for the Full Court.

Single Justices could refer any case or question to the Full Court to ensure that legally significant or complex issues were properly considered. 

This series includes single Justice Court Book cases from 1958.  These were cases that would normally be registered in the Court book.  Court book cases were heard before a single Justice[vii] of the High Court of Australia and were predominantly, one of the following types of cases:

1. Taxation appeals from the Board of Review and directly from the Commissioner of Taxation,
2. Extensions of patent applications;
3. Appeals from the Commissioner of Patents and Trade Marks;
4. Applications under the Life Insurance Act

Contents of Full Court and Court case files

Each case file in the series usually had an original paper file cover, coloured light blue or grey, with “In the High Court of Australia” or similar printed at the top.  Underneath this, appeared the record number and the short title (usually Name versus Name – for example, Jones v Smith).  Below this was a printed table of contents, with one column titled “Nature of document”.  The other column provided a printed number for each document, in the order that they were filed.  This number was also written on the document.  Documents within the file displayed the full or long title on their cover page.  This title listed the names of all parties involved in the case.

The first document in appeal cases was usually the Notice of Appeal.  This document identified the previous court case and the grounds for the appeal from the verdict and judgement of that case.  In Cause cases, the first document was often a Writ of Summons. This document was issued by the court and ordered a party to appear to answer a matter that had been lodged for hearing by the court. 

Documents on the case file could include the following:

• Affidavits – a written statement in place of verbal evidence.  The author is called the deponent and has to sign the statement and swear to the truth of its contents
• Exhibits – a document, photograph or other object shown in court and referred to and identified in written evidence
• Judgement and Orders – the decision on a case was stated in the judgement or order of the court.  It was based on the reasons for judgement of a majority of Justices.  Where there was a tied vote, an appeal case was dismissed.  In Cause cases, the opinion of the Chief Justice or most senior Justice prevails.
• Previous court material – documents from the court or courts from which the appeal was brought – usually the Queensland State Supreme Court for this series. These documents usually included the judgement and reasons for judgement and often the transcript of proceedings as well as any other documents thought relevant
• Reasons for judgement – the reasoning behind the Justices' position on the case.  This could be a joint statement or individual statements by each Judge, including dissenting judgements.
• Appeal Books
  Documents relevant to an appeal case that have been bound into a volume or volumes.  Procedures and requirements for appeal books are stated in the High Court Rules. 

·             Transcripts of Proceedings
On the case file, this usually means a compilation of the most relevant case documents, including in the case of Appeals, the judgements and other relevant documents from previous court cases.  This is distinct from the better-known meaning of transcript as simply the daily record of the oral proceedings in the court.  While some case files will contain both selective record transcripts and daily oral transcripts, please note that the High Court had a separate record keeping system for the latter.  As at 19 January 2006, these are still held by the High Court, and are further discussed in the Relationships with other Records section below.

Please note that many cases will only consist of two or three documents, particularly if the case was withdrawn or quickly resolved.

Related legislation

CONSTITUTION OF AUSTRALIA 1901

• Chapter 3 The Judicature

JUDICIARY ACT 1903

• Section 15 Exercise of jurisdiction

• Section 16 Jurisdiction of a single Justice
• Section 18 Reference to Full Court
• Section 19 Quorum of a Full Court
• Section 20 Appeals from Judges of federal jurisdiction
• Section 21 Applications for special leave to appeal to High Court Quorum of Justices on appeals from State Supreme Courts
• Section 30 Original jurisdiction conferred
• Section 34 Appeals from Justices of High Court
• Section 35 Appeal from courts of States
• Section 35A Criteria for granting special leave to appeal
• Section 38 Matters in which jurisdiction of High Court exclusive
  
  

Using the series

• RecordSearch
  All case files for this series held by the National Archives of Australia have been entered on RecordSearch, the Archives online database. 
  Keywords
  Case files entered on RecordSearch can be retrieved by keyword searches on individual and company names involved in the case.  Item titles on RecordSearch list the plaintiff(s) first and the defendant(s) appear after the word 'versus'.  For example, HALLY Thomas Joseph versus KELLY Ethel Violet.  The item titles are based on what the High Court called the short title – the title that appeared on the file cover.  Official court documents within the file have the full or long title and these often include extra names associated with the case.  These names have been added to the item titles on RecordSearch.  Where there is a large list of names, not all have been shown in the item title; at the end of the title the phrase “and others” has been inserted and the rest of the names have been added to the item Note.  Keyword searches on these names will retrieve the record, though the name occurs only in the Note
• Titles qualified by 'File cover only'
  In many instances, the Archives hold a file cover only (the contents having been removed, most often to be incorporated with records of a later hearing) and this has been noted after the item title entered in RecordSearch.  If the file cover indicates where the papers have been sent, this will usually be included in the title field.  Otherwise, the High Court Principal Registry may be able to identify the file location via the registers.

Access conditions

Under Section 19 of the Archives Act, the access provisions of the Archives Act do not cover court records unless Regulations have been made.  However, since 1996, the Archives has had an agreement with the High Court that enables the Archives to give access to some records of the High Court, in accordance with Court Rules.  This agreement applies to records in Archives custody only.  The records in this series were presented in open court and consequently, the subject matter has always been in the public domain (Open court included hearings in chambers before a single Justice).  Therefore, the 30-year rule, which applies to the generality of Commonwealth records, has not been applied under the terms of this agreement.  Nevertheless, each file is examined before public release to ensure that no material is on the file that was not presented in open court and to identify any suppression orders that require material on the file to remain confidential.

 

Physical characteristics

Files in this series can vary from only a few pages to several volumes.  The average file is less than 100 pages. 

Many of the files in this series are still folded in two - this was how the case files were probably carried during the case proceedings:  the folded case file was tied up with maroon tape and carried with other case files and documents. 
When a researcher at the National Archives of Australia requests a file, it will usually need to go to the Preservation section first for treatment to unfold the file.

The case files can include plans, photographs and other illustrative material used as exhibits in the case.

System of arrangement and control

• High Court records administration
  This is one of many High Court case file series held by the National Archives of Australia.  Multiple series were necessary due to the administrative structure of the High Court and the different types of cases heard by the High Court.  Each state and territory has its own registry, one of which was designated the Principal Registry (administrative headquarters of the High Court).  Until 1973 (in the case of NSW) and for other registries until 1974, the usual practice was to maintain 3 separate registers or 'Books': a Full Court Book, a single Justice Court Book and a single Justice Cause Book.  Registry staff would enter a case in the appropriate register and the case files entered in that register would form a separate record keeping sequence. 
  
  Queensland variation
  The Queensland registry had separate Books (registers) between 1918-1945 with separate record keeping systems.  Between 1904-1917 and 1946-1973 the registry still had separate registers for Full Court and Court Book cases but they had a common numbering system.  This meant that number gaps would appear in both registers because the next sequential number was entered in the other register.  The Archives registered the1904-1917 records as one series (CRS A10044: Full Court and Court Book cases) and this ensured a sequential number system for the series.  The Archives then registered 2 separate series for records from 1918 when the Queensland registry converted to separate numbering systems (CRS A10040 and A10048).  When the registry returned to a common numbering system in 1946, the Archives maintained both series and accepted the fact that there would be gaps in the numbering sequence for both series.  The High Court project of 2004-2005 found that the principal registry had Court Book case records housed together up until 1958 and these were duly registered in series A10048.  After this date, the Court records were housed with the Full Court records, presumably because of the common numbering system.  These records were all registered in series A10040.

• 1974 record keeping system change
  By 1974, each High Court registry had commenced a combined register that recorded all case files lodged or heard at that registry.  This change in record keeping prompted a new series registration for each State registry.  The new series for Queensland was CRS A12918, and it commenced from 1 January 1974.
• Control symbols
  The record keeping system of the High Court Registry controls case files via an annual number system with the year as a suffix.  However, most records transferred to the Archives in 2003 and 2004 have been entered into the Archives online database with the year as a prefix.  This maintained consistency with item entries already listed for the series.  The new High Court series, mentioned above in 1974 record keeping change, gave an opportunity to revert to the year as suffix and so bring the control symbols into line with the High Court registry. 

• Case files with multiple items
  Where the case files consist of several items, the control symbols will be the annual single number plus a suffix.  For example, the sixth case file of 1955 has the control symbol of 1955/6 and the control symbols for the transcript is 1955/6 TRANSCRIPT.
• File cover citations
  File covers in the series often cite records in other High Court series.  There are several reasons for this:

1. Cases were usually lodged in the home state of the instigator of the court action but the High Court may have heard the case in a different state.  The case would usually be allocated a record number in the Full Court Register of both State registries
2. A case may have commenced before a single High Court judge and been allocated a record number in either the Cause Register or Court Register.  However, the judge may have then referred it to the Full Court if they believed the case was significant enough to be heard by more than one judge.  The case would then be allocated a record number in the Full Court Register.
3. A single High Court Justice may have heard a case and at a later date, participants appeal to the Full Court.

For 1 & 2, the alternative record numbers will usually be identified on RecordSearch as alternative control symbols.  Where the file cover does not clearly identify the alternative record number, the file reference was included as an item note.
For 3, the file reference was included as an item note.

Relationships with other records

• Control records
  The control records for this series are the registers that are still held by the Principal Registry of the High Court of Australia.  They also hold a card index that can be searched by names of parties involved in the case.  Further research into the nominal indexes is required before the Archives can register them.
• Transcripts of oral proceedings
  As mentioned in the Contents sub-section above, most oral transcripts are still held by the High Court Principal Registry.  They are apparently fairly complete from 1952 and stored in date order.  While the transcript series are not yet in Archives custody, most are registered on RecordSearch and for Queensland the relevant series are CRS A13188, A13183 and A13184.
• Series links
  These can be accessed from the series registration page.  They display the relationship of other registered series with this series.

Custodial history

• Centralisation of High Court archives in Canberra
  Prior to 1980, each State Registry retained its own files, including the case files and registers.  When the Principal Registry moved to Canberra in 1980, the archives of the NSW and Victorian Registries were also moved there.  The archives of other State Registries were moved in 1981.
• Appeal books
  Appeal Books for High Court cases were originally filed separately from the case file.  Prior to the 2004 transfer of records to the National Archives of Australia, the Principal Registry of the High Court had begun collating the appeal books with their case file. 
  
  
  

Series history

• High Court Project
  As part of the High Court of Australia Centenary in 2003, the High Court provided funding for a project to transfer to the National Archives of Australia all case files dated 1931-1980. The project commenced in July 2004 and was completed in June 2005.  The project rehoused the records in acid free folders and containers to enhance the long-term preservation of the files.  The project also entered all case files as items in the National Archives' online database, RecordSearch.  Case files dated 1903-1930 have already been rehoused and entered on RecordSearch by a previous project. 

Sources

Australian Government, Attorney General's Department, SCALEplus – Law Resource, Commonwealth of Australia 2004, published online at http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/

Blackshield, A R, Coper M, & Williams, G (eds) The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia, Oxford University Press, 2001

Marantelli, S & Tikotin, C, The Australian Legal Dictionary, (2^nd ed.) Edward Arnold Australia, 1985

Quick, Sir John & Groom, Littleton E, The Judicial Power of the Commonwealth with the Practice and Procedure of the High Court, Charles F Maxwell, 1904

Endnotes

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[i] Justice is the title for judges of superior courts including the High Court of Australia and the State Supreme Courts.  In transcripts of cases, the 'J' after a surname only refers to Justices, not judges of lower courts.  For example, Murphy J:  This is read as Mr Justice Murphy.

[ii] Black shield, A R, Coper M, & Williams, G (ends) The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp 287-288

[iii]Black shield et al, p. 288 & p. 426

[iv] Where a public authority is requested to perform its public duty but the request is refused, an Order or Writ of Mandamus can be obtained from a superior court compelling the authority to perform its duty.

[v] Blackshield et al, pp287-288

[vi] Advice from High Court Registry 12/12/05

[vii] Justice is the title for judges of superior courts including the High Court of Australia and the State Supreme Courts.  In transcripts of cases, the 'J' after a surname only refers to Justices, not judges of lower courts.  For example, Murphy J:  This is read as Mr Justice Murphy.