Amicus application in the High Court
On 12 February ALHR sought leave to make amicus submissions to the High Court, on the hearing of an appeal brought by the Western Australian Government and BHP Billiton against a native title decision of the Federal Court. The Court did not grant ALHR leave, but issued its decision on 12 March 2014 dismissing the appeal and upholding the Full Federal Court’s decision which was the result ALHR’s submissions had advocated. ALHR issued a media release on the decision, available below.
ALHR’s President, John Southalan, spoke at ALHR meetings in Canberra (12 February) and Sydney (13 February), about the Court proceedings. ALHR’s High Court submissions are available here and will be used in future work of ALHR. The submissions focus on human rights standards about racial equality, and their implications for the common law and extinguishment of native title.