Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) If —
(a) a
matter for determination in a proceeding that is pending in the Supreme Court
is a special federal matter; and
(b) the
court does not make an order under subsection (3) in respect of the
matter,
the court shall
transfer the proceeding in accordance with this section to the Federal Court
or a court mentioned in subsection (2)(b).
(1a) However, the
court is only required to transfer so much of the proceeding as is, in the
opinion of the court, within the jurisdiction (including the accrued
jurisdiction) of the Federal Court, or the court mentioned in
subsection (2)(b), as the case may be.
(2) Where a proceeding
or part of a proceeding is to be transferred under
subsection (1) —
(a) if
the special federal matter is a matter mentioned in paragraph (a), (b),
(c), (d) or (e) of the definition of special federal matter in
section 3(1) of the Commonwealth Act, the proceeding shall be transferred
to the Federal Court; or
(b) if
the special federal matter is a matter mentioned in paragraph (ba) of the
definition of special federal matter in section 3(1) of the Commonwealth
Act, the proceeding shall be transferred to whichever of —
(i)
the Family Court;
(ii)
the State Family Court; or
(iii)
the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory,
appears to the Supreme
Court to be appropriate in the circumstances.
(3) The Supreme Court
may order that the proceeding be determined by that court if it is satisfied
that there are special reasons for doing so in the particular circumstances of
the proceeding other than reasons relevant to the convenience of the parties.
(4) Before making an
order under subsection (3), the court has to be satisfied
that —
(a) a
written notice specifying the nature of the special federal matter has been
given to the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth and the Attorney-General of
the State; and
(b) a
reasonable time has elapsed since the giving of the notice for the
Attorney-General to consider whether submissions to the court should be made
in relation to the proceeding.
(5) For the purposes
of subsection (4), the court —
(a) may
adjourn the proceeding for such time as the court thinks necessary and may
make such order as to costs in relation to an adjournment as it thinks fit;
and
(b) may
direct a party to the proceeding to give a notice in accordance with that
subsection.
(6) In considering
whether there are special reasons for the purposes of subsection (3), the
court shall —
(a) have
regard to the general rule that special federal matters should be heard by the
Federal Court or a court mentioned in subsection (2)(b), whichever is
appropriate in the particular case; and
(b) take
into account any submission made in relation to the proceeding by an
Attorney-General mentioned in subsection (4).
(7) Nothing in this
section prevents the court granting urgent relief of an interlocutory nature
if it is in the interests of justice to do so.
(8) If the Supreme
Court —
(a)
through inadvertence, determines a proceeding of the kind mentioned in
subsection (1) without making an order under subsection (3); or
(b)
determines a proceeding of the kind mentioned in subsection (1) having,
through inadvertence, made an order under subsection (3) without a notice
mentioned in subsection (4) being given,
nothing in this
section invalidates the decision of that court.
(9) This section does
not apply to a proceeding by way of an appeal that is instituted in the Court
of Appeal if the court the decision of which is the subject of the appeal had
made an order under subsection (3), or under section 6(1) as in
force before the commencement of section 5 of the Jurisdiction of Courts
(Cross-vesting) Amendment Act 1994 1 , in relation to the special
federal matter.
[Section 6 inserted by No. 3 of 1994
s. 5; amended by No. 32 of 2001 s. 25; No. 45 of 2004
s. 37.]