cmap. 1] THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 889 
in that case, in accordance with the views of certain lawyers 
in connexion with the Municipal Corporations Commission,! 
that an inquiry instituted by the Crown to ascertain if an 
offence has been committed, and by whom, and whether any 
penalty or forfeiture has been incurred, is a matter trespassing 
on the province of the judiciary and within the mischief of 
the statutes 42 Edw. III. ¢. 3 and the Act for the abolition 
of the Star Chamber. 
The question of inquiries has also been considered by the 
Supreme Court of New South Wales in the case of Clough v. 
Leahy? In that case a royal commission had been issued to 
inquire into the formation, working, and constitution of 
a certain industrial union, to consider if it were an invasion 
of two Acts of Parliament, whether it hampered the Indus- 
trial Arbitration Court from doing justice in disputes arising 
in the pastoral industry, and whether any alteration of the 
law was necessary in this connexion. On the prosecution of 
a witness for refusing to give evidence, it was argued before 
the Court that the object of the commission being solely 
bo inquire into matters already adjudicated upon by the 
Arbitration Court, and over which that Court had complete 
power, the royal commission as a usurpation of the juris- 
diction of a Court lawfully constituted to deal with the 
same matter was illegal. This view was accepted by the 
Supreme Court, but on appeal it was held by the High Court 
of Australia that there was no warrant for saying that any 
inquiry of itself was unlawful, even though it related to guilt 
or innocence or to private right and was held in public. It 
was clearly the opinion of the Court that the mere inquiry 
into guilt or innocence, even when backed by a power to 
compel evidence, was not a judicial proceeding or a usurpation 
of judicial power. 
In the case of Huddart Parker & Co. Proprietary Limited v. 
Moorehead ® it was held unanimously by the whole Court that 
t Harrison Moore, Commonwealth of Australia,® p. 310, n. 1; Parl. Pap., 
852, xxvi. 331 seq. ; Law Review, xv. 269. 2 16 Car. I c. 10. 
} (1904) 2 C. L. R. 139, overruling (1904) 4 8. BR. (N. 8. W.) 401. 
tg. L. R. 330, at pp. 354 seq., per Griffith C.J.; at pp. 366 seq.