Witnesses give evidence on oath in sentencing hearings quite commonly in the higher courts. It virtually never happens in the Magistrates' Court.One reason for this (it might be suggested) is the time constraints of the summary jurisdiction. I don't think that's why. Magistrates often go to great lengths to learn more about an offender when …
Tag: evidence
R v Smith (No 5) [2011] NSWSC 1459: relevant but weak evidence
With the end of the year rapidly approaching I'm yet again caught with a pile of interesting (and possibly important) cases sitting in my inbox, and no time to properly digest them. An example is R v Smith (No 5) [2011] NSWSC 1459. Like many trial court decisions it's useful as an application of the …
Continue reading R v Smith (No 5) [2011] NSWSC 1459: relevant but weak evidence
Australian Crime Commission v Stoddart [2011] HCA 47: No spousal privilege at common law
There is no common law privilege against incriminating your spouse.There never has been, it seems. Centuries ago in Britain a wife was neither competent or compellable to give evidence against her husband due to the legal fiction (derived from the Bible) that man and wife were the one flesh. Even by the time of the …
SPA v The Queen [2011] VSCA 306: the possibility of concoction must be real
SPA v The Queen is an interlocutory appeal. The Court of Appeal's reasons tend to be brief in these judgments. The Court is anxious to say no more than is necessary than to decide the admissibility question before it, knowing that it will possibly see the matter back before it again after the trial ends.In …
Continue reading SPA v The Queen [2011] VSCA 306: the possibility of concoction must be real
Lithgow City Council v Jackson [2011] HCA 36: hearsay, lay opinion evidence and business documents
Sometimes the wheels of justice grind very slowly.The High Court heard appeals from this case twice, most recently delivering its decision on 28 September 2011. The NSW Court of Appeal also dealt with the matter twice. On its face it's a fairly simple negligence action arising from a fall in a public park one night …