Criminal Law in Queensland and - LexisNexis



Criminal Law in Queensland and

Western Australia

By

Eric Colvin and Justice John McKechnie

Part One Introductory Matters

The Structure of Criminal Law 3

Introduction 3

The Nature of Criminal Law and Criminal Responsibility 4

Constitutional and Territorial Issues 5

Two Traditions in Australian Criminal Law 6

The Griffith Code 8

Codes, Other Criminal Legislation and Common Law 8

Interpretation of Criminal Legislation and Codes 10

Classification of Offences 11

Persuasive and Evidentiary Burdens 13

The Burden of Proof 13

Beyond Reasonable Doubt 14

Reversals of the Burden of Proof 15

Evidentiary (or Evidential) Burdens 16

Presumptions 18

Goncalves v R 19

R v Punj 21

R v Hutchinson 23

Part Two Offences

Homicide 29

Lawful and Unlawful Homicide 29

Conceptions of Life and Death 30

Killing by Omission 31

General principles of criminal liability for omissions 31

The specific duties under the Codes 33

Causation of Death 34

R v Iby 37

Airedale National Health Service Trust v Bland 40

Krakouer v State of Western Australia 46

Murder and Manslaughter 52

The Homicide Offences 52

Forms of Murder 53

Murder and Intention 55

Murder and the Prosecution of an Unlawful Purpose 58

Forms of Manslaughter 59

Accident and Manslaughter by Intentional Violence 61

Manslaughter and Criminal Negligence 62

Ordinary and Reasonable Persons 64

Dangerous Driving Causing Death 65

R v Willmot (No 2) 66

R v Woollin 68

R v Winner 73

Turner v R 75

R v Gould and Barnes 78

R v Taiters 79

Jackson and Hodgetts v R 82

Callaghan v R 86

Assaults and Injuries 89

The Structure of Offences Against the Person 89

The Definition of Assault 91

The Fault Element of Assault 92

The Compound Assault Offences 93

Forms of Injury 95

Liability for Injury 96

Hall v Fonceca 99

R v Secretary 102

Horan v Ferguson 106

Lergesner v Carroll 111

R v BBD 115

Houghton v R 120

R v Reid 123

Sexual Violence and Fraud 132

The Structure of Offences of Sexual Violence 132

The Issue of Consent 136

Mistakes 138

Drago v R 140

R v Cuerrier 145

Case Stated by DPP (No 1 of 1993) 151

Wagenaar v R 154

Attorney-General’s Reference No 1 of 1977 157

R v Mrzljak 159

Aubertin v State of Western Australia 168

Property Offences 174

The Structure of Property Offences 174

Stealing 175

Forms of stealing 175

Requirement of ‘fraudulently’ 177

Stealing and transfers of property 179

Fraud 181

Robbery 184

Offences Respecting Premises 185

Receiving 187

Destruction and Damage 188

The offences 188

Requirement of ‘wilfully’ 189

Ilich v R 190

Mujunen v R 195

R v Angus 198

Peters v R 199

Bolitho v State of Western Australia 204

R v Lockwood; Ex parte Attorney-General 210

Drugs Offences 214

The Structure of Drugs Offences 214

Queensland offences 215

Western Australia offences 216

Commonwealth offences 217

Possession 218

The mental element in possession 219

Trafficking, Selling and Supplying, Importing 221

Mistakes of Fact 222

Mistakes of Law 224

Davies v State of Western Australia 225

State of Western Australia v R 227

Commonwealth Offences 239

Part Three Defences

The Role and Range of Defences 245

Introduction 245

Types of Exculpatory Defence 246

Justification and Excuse 246

Mental Impairment and Criminal Responsibility 248

Evidentiary and Persuasive Burdens 249

Lack of Will and Accident 250

Section 23 250

Lack of Will 251

Accident 254

R v Falconer 254

Murray v R 259

Mistake of Fact 270

Introduction 270

Mistakes and Subjective Mental Elements 270

Mistakes, Accidents and Negligence 271

Section 24 of the Codes 271

Mistake of Fact and Commonwealth Offences 274

McPherson v Cairn 275

G J Coles & Coy Ltd v Goldsworthy 277

Ignorance of Law 281

The General Principle 281

Non-Publication of Statutory Instruments 283

Claim of Right 284

The Exercise of Legal Powers 285

Judgment in the Application of General Standards 286

Ostrowski v Palmer 287

Molina v Zaknich 290

Sancoff v Holford 293

Self-Defence and Other Defensive Force 295

The Range of Defences 295

Defence of Persons 297

The requirement for an assault 297

Self-defence against an unprovoked assault 298

Self-defence against a provoked assault 300

Defence of Property 301

Mistakes 303

Excessive Force 305

Commonwealth Offences 306

Evidentiary and Persuasive Burdens 306

R v Prow 307

R v Gray 308

Lavallee v R 313

Osland v R 322

James v Sievwright 328

Provocation 335

Provocation and Criminal Responsibility 335

Provocation under the Codes 337

The objective test 338

Proportionality and degrees of loss of self-control 341

Conduct constituting provocation 342

Suddenness 343

Self-induced provocation 344

Involvement of third parties 344

Kaporonovski v R 346

Hart v R 348

Stingel v R 361

Green v R 370

Compulsion, Emergency and Medical Necessity 379

The General Problem of Necessity in Criminal Law 379

The Defence of Compulsion 380

Compulsion and criminal responsibility 380

Compulsion in Queensland 381

Compulsion in Western Australia 383

Commonwealth offences 384

The Defence of Emergency 385

The role of the defence 385

The issue of necessity 386

The issue of proportion 387

Commonwealth offences 389

The Defence of Medical Necessity 389

Mistakes 391

Persuasive and Evidentiary Burdens 392

R v Smith 392

R v Dudley and Stephens 396

Re A (Children) 399

K v T 402

Insanity, Automatism, Diminished Responsibility 404

Introduction 404

Insanity in Criminal Law 404

The role of the insanity defence 404

Fitness to stand trial 405

Persuasive and evidentiary burdens 407

The role of the Mental Health Court in Queensland 408

Defendants acquitted on grounds of unsoundness of mind in

Western Australia 409

The Insanity Defence 409

Elements of the insanity defence 409

Mental disease (Queensland) and impairment (Western Australia) 410

Incapacity 411

The arms of the insanity defence 412

Commonwealth offences 413

Automatism and Insanity 414

Automatism and criminal responsibility 414

Distinguishing sane and insane automatism 415

Diminished Responsibility in Queensland 416

R v Mursic 418

R v Falconer 419

R v Parks 430

R v Burgess 434

Intoxication 437

Intoxication and Criminal Responsibility 437

Evidentiary and Persuasive Burdens 438

Intoxication and Insanity 439

Intoxication and Specific Intent 440

The terms of the Code s 28(3) (Qld)/s 28 third para (WA) 440

Intention to cause a specific result 441

Social policy: O’Connor and Kusu 444

Commonwealth offences 444

R v O’Regan 445

R v Kusu 446

Part Four Participation in Offences

Inchoate Liability 453

Inchoate Liability in Criminal Law 453

Liability for Attempt 454

Definitions of Attempt 455

The Mental Element in an Attempt 456

Attempts and Preparatory Acts 458

The Relationship between Attempts and Completed Offences 459

Liability for Conspiracy 460

Elements of Conspiracy 461

Parties to a Conspiracy 463

The Relationship Between Conspiracies and Completed Offences 464

Impossibility 464

R De Silva 466

Peters v R 472

R v English 476

Secondary Liability 481

Parties to an Offence 481

Charges and Verdicts 482

Aiding 483

Counselling and Procuring 486

The Common Purpose Rule 487

The Non-Responsible Principal; the Lesser Principal;

the Greater Principal 488

Exempt Parties 489

Withdrawal 490

Beck v R 491

DPP (Northern Ireland) v Maxwell 498

Tabe v R 500

Stuart v R 507

Darkan v R 510

R v Menniti 520

Capacity to Commit Offences 527

Introduction 527

Children 527

Corporations 528

The scope of corporate liability 528

Liability for state offences 529

Liability for Commonwealth offences 531

Grain Sorghum Marketing Board v Supastok Pty Ltd 532

Meridian Global Funds Management Asia Ltd v

Securities Commission 535

Part Five Criminal Procedure

Principles of Criminal Procedure 541

Interests in the Criminal Justice Process 541

Sources of the Law of Criminal Procedure 542

Investigation of Offences 543

Police powers in Queensland 543

Police powers in Western Australia 545

Commonwealth police powers 545

Exclusion of wrongfully obtained evidence 545

The Trial Process 549

Foster v R 552

Jago v District Court of New South Wales 557

Entrapment and Controlled Operations 561

Reactive and Proactive Policing 561

Entrapment 562

Controlled Operations 566

The Queensland scheme 567

The Western Australia scheme 570

The Commonwealth scheme 571

Ridgeway v R 572

Search, Seizure, Surveillance and Identification 583

General Liberties and Special Powers 583

The Structure of Investigative Powers 585

Powers Exercisable Without Warrant 587

Demands for identification 588

Searches of persons and vehicles 589

Searches in Queensland 590

Searches in Western Australia 590

Search Warrants 591

Queensland: additional provisions 595

Western Australia: additional provisions 596

Surveillance Devices 597

Identification Procedures 598

George v Rockett 598

State of New South Wales v Corbett 606

Arrest, Bail and Investigative Procedures 613

Introduction 613

Meaning and Role of Arrest 614

Investigative arrest 616

Powers of Arrest 617

Arrest without warrant: police powers 617

Arrest without warrant: citizens’ powers 618

Arrest with warrant 619

Making an Arrest 619

Alternatives to Arrest 622

Bail 623

Custodial Searches 624

Taking ‘Identifying Particulars’ 625

Queensland 626

Western Australia 626

Forensic Procedures 627

Queensland 627

Western Australia 629

Dellit v Small; Ex parte Dellit 630

Norton v R (No 2) 631

O’Hara v Chief Constable of the RUC 638

Questioning and Confessions 643

The Right to Question and the Right to Silence 643

Problems with Confessional Evidence 644

Exclusion of Confessional Evidence 646

Unrecorded admissions 646

Involuntary confessions and admissions 647

‘Unfairness’ and ‘public policy’ 649

Standards for Questioning 652

Sources of standards 652

Information; cautions; access to friends, relatives and lawyers 653

Methods of questioning 659

Persons Requiring Special Protection 660

Statutory protections in Queensland and the Commonwealth 660

Statutory protections in Western Australia 663

Covert Recordings and Undercover Operatives 663

The Right to Silence and Equality Before the Law 666

R v Smith 667

Van Der Meer v R 671

R v Swaffield 675

Tolifau v R 685

Charges and Prosecutions 694

Initiation of Proceedings 694

Queensland 694

Western Australia 696

Form of Charges 696

Queensland 696

Western Australia 699

Selection of Charges 700

Prosecutorial Discretion and Judicial Review 700

Principles of judicial review 700

The decision not to prosecute 701

Improper purposes 702

Oppression 704

Plea Negotiation 705

R v Stevens 707

Barnes v R 711

Maxwell v R 715

Williams v Spautz 719

Walton v Gardiner 723

Committals and Trials 728

Jurisdiction of Courts; Juries 728

Juries 729

‘Dual’ or ‘either way’ offences 730

Committal Proceedings 731

Queensland 731

Western Australia 732

Proceedings Before Trial 733

Proceedings at Trial 734

Queensland 734

Western Australia 735

No Case to Answer 735

Disclosure 736

Queensland 737

Western Australia 738

The Right to a Fair Trial 739

Trial delay 739

Prosecutorial and judicial impartiality 739

Prejudicial publicity 740

Legal representation 741

Barton v R 743

Western Australia v Christie 748

Livermore v R 754

R v Glennon 762

R v Long; Ex parte A-G (Qld) 768

Dietrich v R 775

Verdicts 782

Alternative Verdicts 782

Queensland 782

Western Australia 783

Double Jeopardy 784

Principle against double jeopardy 784

Section 17 of the Codes 785

The rule against multiple punishments 787

Abuse of process 788

Tricklebank v R 789

R v Carroll 792

Appeals 801

Jurisdiction of Appeal Courts; Pardons 801

Entitlement to Appeal 803

Queensland 803

Western Australia 804

Powers of an Appeal Court 805

Orders quashing convictions on indictment 805

Ground 1 — Unreasonable or unsupportable verdict 805

Ground 2 — Error of law 807

Ground 3 — Miscarriage of justice 807

Other orders 808

New Arguments and Evidence 808

MFA v R 809

Nudd v R 814

Weiss v R 823

Mallard v R 829

Part Six Sentencing and Proceeds

Sentencing Principles 841

Introduction 841

Common Law Principles 843

Statutory Principles 846

Queensland 846

Western Australia 849

Commonwealth offences 851

Guilty Pleas 851

Queensland 851

Western Australia 852

Principles respecting guilty pleas 852

Sentencing Methodology 854

Precedents 854

Sentencing guidelines 855

‘Two-stage’ sentencing and ‘instinctive synthesis’ 856

Imprisonment and Parole 857

Queensland 857

Western Australia 858

R v Melano 859

Veen v R (No 2) 862

R v Nagy 868

Cameron v R 878

Markarian v R 888

Proceeds of Crime 905

Reparation for Victims 905

Confiscation of Proceeds 906

R v Ferrari 907

Permanent Trustee Co Ltd v The State of Western Australia 908

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