Special leave in the High Court of Australia

Special leave refers to a procedure in the High Court of Australia where parties apply to have their cases heard by the court.^[1]

During this process the court decides whether or not the appeal a party is attempting to raise merits the attention of the High Court.

To be granted special leave to appeal, the applicant must convince the Court that the case raises a question of public or legal importance that is significant enough to warrant the attention of the High Court. The precise criteria for this is detailed in Section 35A of the Judiciary Act. The Australian parliament has the authority to regulate the form of appeals to the High Court, virtue of section 73 of the Australian constitution.^[2]

The overwhelming majority of special leave applications fail before the court. In the later half of the 2010s, only ~10% of applications were accepted by the court and proceeded to a further hearing. Of those cases that proceeded to a further hearing, usually, a little over half are successful on appeal each year.^[3]

^ Kennedy, Maree. "Applications for Special Leave to the High Court". The High Court Quarterly Review. 1 (1): 1–12.
^ Mason, Anthony (January 1996). "The regulation of appeals to the High Court of Australia: the jurisdiction to grant special leave to appeal [Edited version of paper presented at University of Tasmania, 25 Mar 1996.]". University of Tasmania Law Review. 15 (1): 1–21 – via Informit.
^ "High Court 2019-20 Annual Report" (PDF). p. 20.

[1] Kennedy, Maree. "Applications for Special Leave to the High Court". The High Court Quarterly Review. 1 (1): 1–12.

[2] Mason, Anthony (January 1996). "The regulation of appeals to the High Court of Australia: the jurisdiction to grant special leave to appeal [Edited version of paper presented at University of Tasmania, 25 Mar 1996.]". University of Tasmania Law Review. 15 (1): 1–21 – via Informit.

[:0-3] "High Court 2019-20 Annual Report" (PDF). p. 20.

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