Kable v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW)
Key Principle
Held that State legislation cannot confer functions on State courts that are incompatible with their role as repositories of federal judicial power under Chapter III
The High Court established the Kable doctrine, holding that State courts which are invested with federal jurisdiction under Chapter III of the Constitution cannot be required by State legislation to exercise functions incompatible with their institutional integrity as courts. The Community Protection Act 1994 (NSW), which allowed preventive detention of a named individual, was struck down as repugnant to Chapter III.