Northern Territory of Australia v. Mr A Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones on behalf of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples & Anor
Commonwealth of Australia v. Mr A Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones on behalf of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples & Anor
Mr A Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones on behalf of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples v. Northern Territory of Australia & Anor
Case Nos.
D1/2018, D2/2018 and D3/2018
Case Information
Lower Court Judgment
20/07/2017 Federal Court of Australia (North ACJ, Barker J, Mortimer J)
(Orders pronounced 09/08/2017)
Catchwords
Native title – Extinguishment – Compensation for extinguishment – Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) – Where claim brought against Commonwealth and Northern Territory for extinguishment of non-exclusive native title rights and interests in Timber Creek – Where primary judge awarded claim group compensation for economic value of extinguished rights, interest, and solatium for loss or impairment of rights and interests – Where Full Court held primary judge erred in assessing value of extinguished rights and concluded value of rights was 65% of value of freehold title – Whether Full Court’s assessment of economic value of rights erroneous or manifestly excessive in light of restrictions and limitations on rights – Whether Full Court erred in failing to find primary judge erred in awarding interest as part of compensation under s 51(1) of Act and not as interest on compensation – Whether Full Court erred in assessing interest by reference to 65% of value of freehold title – Whether Full Court erred in failing to find primary judge erred in assessing compensation for non-economic loss – Whether Full Court erred in failing to find primary judge’s assessment of compensation for non-economic loss manifestly excessive – Whether Full Court erred in finding commercial agreements entered into by claimants containing solatium-type payments irrelevant to assessment of compensation.
Documents*
16/02/2018 Hearing (SLA, Canberra)
01/03/2018 Notices of appeal
06/04/2018 Written submissions (Commonwealth of Australia)
06/04/2018 Chronology (Commonwealth of Australia)
06/04/2018 Written submissions (Northern Territory)
06/04/2018 Chronology (Northern Territory)
20/04/2018 Written submissions (Attorney-General for the State of South Australia intervening)
20/04/2018 Written submissions (Attorney-General of the State of Queensland intervening)
20/04/2018 Written submissions (Attorney-General for the State of Western Australia intervening)
04/05/2018 Written submissions (Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples)
04/05/2018 Chronology (Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples)
18/05/2018 Written submissions (Central Desert Native Title Services Ltd and Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation intervening)
24/05/2018 Reply (Northern Territory)
25/05/2018 Reply (Commonwealth of Australia)
30/05/2018 Hearing (Single Justice, Melbourne v/link Sydney and Darwin)
04/09/2018 Hearing (Full Court, Darwin)
04/09/2018 Outline of oral argument (Northern Territory)
04/09/2018 Outline of oral argument (Commonwealth of Australia)
05/09/2018 Hearing (Full Court, Darwin)
05/09/2018 Outline of oral argument (Attorney-General of the State of Queensland intervening)
05/09/2018 Outline of oral argument (Attorney-General for the State of South Australia intervening)
05/09/2018 Outline of oral argument (Attorney-General for the State of Western Australia intervening)
05/09/2018 Outline of oral argument (Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples)
06/09/2018 Hearing (Full Court, Darwin)
06/09/2018 Outline of oral argument (Central Desert Native Title Services Ltd and Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation intervening)
13/03/2019 Judgment (Judgment summary)
17/04/2019 Summons seeking orders pursuant to Section XAA of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples)
19/06/2019 Judgment