› Kable principle – whether compelled self-incriminating evidence and admissibility of investigator's report render state legislation invalid
Constitutional Law
› Examination of validity of legislation by courts
› Prudential approach – court not to decide constitutional question unnecessary to resolve controversy
Statutory Interpretation
› Severance and reading down
› Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld) s 9 – contrary intention – requirement of positive indication of all-or-nothing operation
Statutory Interpretation
› Severance
› Whether severance would alter objective legislative purpose or create substantially different law
Quick Take
1Under the prudential approach, a court will ordinarily not decide whether statutory provisions not engaged by the facts are invalid under Ch III and the Kable principle. It will instead assume their invalidity and ask whether the provisions actually engaged can operate if the impugned provisions are severed or read down. On that basis, the validity of ss 87ZM and 87ZQ(3)(b) of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld) was left undetermined.
2Following Deripaska v Minister for Foreign Affairs [2026] HCA 14, s 9 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld) is displaced only by a positive indication that Parliament intended the legislation to have a full and complete operation or none at all. Explanatory notes and second reading material stressing the importance of the impugned provisions, the fact that severance would make the scheme less effective, and the fact that it would narrow the gap between Part 5A and Part 5B do not amount to such an indication.
3Severing provisions that alter the means of achieving a legislative objective, such as admitting an investigator's report and using compelled self-incriminating answers in prosecutions, does not change the objective purpose of the legislation or create a 'substantially different law' in the sense discussed by Edelman J in Mineralogy Pty Ltd v State of Western Australia [2021] HCA 30. Here the objective of investigating and prosecuting claim farming was unchanged.
