Williams v The Queen
Encyclopedia
Williams v The Queen was a decision handed down in the High Court of Australia
on 26 August 1986. The applicant was indicted before the Supreme Court of Tasmania on twenty-nine counts - fifteen of burglary and fourteen of stealing. At the commencement of the trial counsel for the accused objected to the admission in evidence of a number of records of interview containing confessions allegedly made to the police by the applicant. After a voir dire the learned trial judge ruled that the records of interview which related to twenty-six of the counts should not be admitted in evidence. The matter was dismissed.
There is an onus on a person under Section 34A(1) of the Justices Act 1959 Tasmania
, to be brought before a justice as soon as practical once taken into custody for an offence. In the ordinary case of an arrest on suspicion, the arresting officer must have satisfied himself at the time of the arrest that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting the guilt of the person arrested although the grounds of suspicion need not consist of admissible evidence . If the arresting officer believes the information in his possession to be true, if the information reasonably points to the guilt of the arrested person and if the arresting officer thus believes that the arrested person is so likely to be guilty of the offence for which he has been arrested that on general grounds of justice a charge is warranted, he has reasonable and probable cause for commencing a prosecution.
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
on 26 August 1986. The applicant was indicted before the Supreme Court of Tasmania on twenty-nine counts - fifteen of burglary and fourteen of stealing. At the commencement of the trial counsel for the accused objected to the admission in evidence of a number of records of interview containing confessions allegedly made to the police by the applicant. After a voir dire the learned trial judge ruled that the records of interview which related to twenty-six of the counts should not be admitted in evidence. The matter was dismissed.
There is an onus on a person under Section 34A(1) of the Justices Act 1959 Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, to be brought before a justice as soon as practical once taken into custody for an offence. In the ordinary case of an arrest on suspicion, the arresting officer must have satisfied himself at the time of the arrest that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting the guilt of the person arrested although the grounds of suspicion need not consist of admissible evidence . If the arresting officer believes the information in his possession to be true, if the information reasonably points to the guilt of the arrested person and if the arresting officer thus believes that the arrested person is so likely to be guilty of the offence for which he has been arrested that on general grounds of justice a charge is warranted, he has reasonable and probable cause for commencing a prosecution.
External links
[1986 HCA 88], record of proceedings at the Australasian Legal Information InstituteAustralasian Legal Information InstituteThe Australasian Legal Information Institute is an institution operated jointly by the Faculties of Law of the University of Technology Sydney and the University of New South Wales. It is notable for establishing Australia's largest on-line database on Australian legislation and case law...
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