Kirmani v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 2)
| Kirmani v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 2) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | High Court of Australia |
| Full case name | Kirmani v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 2) |
| Decided | 17 April 1985 |
| Citation(s) | (1985) 159 CLR 461; [1985] HCA 27 |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | Kirmani v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 1) [1985] HCA 8; (1985) 159 CLR 351 |
| Subsequent action(s) | none |
| Case opinions | |
| (per curiam) The circumstance that a question is of great importance and that opinions are divided upon it does not provide a reason for granting a certificate. Questions of constitutional importance should be finally decided by the High Court and the jurisdiction to grant a certificate under s 74 is obsolete. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Gibbs CJ, Mason, Wilson Brennan, Deane, Dawson JJ |
Kirmani v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 2) [1985] HCA 27; (1985) 159 CLR 461, was a decision handed down in the High Court of Australia on 17 April 1985 concerning section 74 of the Constitution of Australia. The Court denied an application by the Attorney-General for Queensland seeking permission to have questions of law arising from the Court's decision in Kirmani v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 1) heard by the Privy Council.
Section 74 of the Constitution established the High Court as the final court of appeal for Australia, but included the compromise that the High Court could give leave for the Privy Council to hear appeals against High Court decisions. This power was exercised only once, when leave to appeal was granted in Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd v Attorney-General (Cth) (1912) 15 CLR 182, and as early as 1961 the High Court under Chief Justice Sir Owen Dixon had indicated that such appeals being granted was low.
In Kirmani v Captain Cook Cruises Pty Ltd (No 2), the Court unanimously observed that the power to grant such a certificate of further appeal "has long since been spent" and is "obsolete", and that it would no longer consider itself able to grant said certificates.
Although the Court's power to permit further appeal remains as long as Section 74 remains in effect, this declaration by the Court and the provisions of the Australia Act 1986 have for practical purposes ended all means of appeal from Australian courts to the Privy Council.