Williams v The Queen

Williams v The Queen
Court High Court of Australia
Full case name Williams v The Queen
Decided 26 August 1986
Citation(s) [1986] HCA 88
Case history
Prior action(s)

Hobart, 1986, March 5, 6; Adelaide, 1987, August 26. 26:8:1987

APPEAL from the Supreme Court of Tasmania
Case opinions
Arrest - Arrested person to be taken before a justice as soon as practicable - Delay - Desire of arresting officer to question arrested person.
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting Gibbs C.J,Mason, Wilson, Brennan and Dawson JJ

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 [1] although the grounds of suspicion need not consist of admissible evidence.[2] 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.

References

  1. ↑ Dumbell v. Roberts (1944) 1 All ER 326, at p 329
  2. ↑ Hussien v. Chong Fook Kam (1970) AC 942, at pp 948-949

External links


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