Lower Court Disagreements as Cues for Agenda Setting in the High Court of Australia

We extend cue theory to examine why and how dissent on the court below acts as a cue to apex courts in selecting the cases they hear. We posit that dissent on the court below is a cue to the apex court that the case involves complex legal issues. To test our predictions about how dissent on the court below affects the selection of cases and factors mediating and moderating this relationship, we use original data on 8,405 special leave applications to the High Court of Australia (2003–2018), finding evidence in support of cue theory.