Allison (a pseudonym) v The Queen

The case of Allison (a pseudonym) v The Queen involved an interlocutory appeal against a decision by the County Court of Victoria. The applicant, who was charged with using a carriage service to access child pornography and child abuse material, and possession of child abuse material, sought to have the charges relating to the access offences stayed on the basis that they were duplicitous and did not involve different criminality from the possession charge. The appeal was heard by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The legal issues before the court were whether the charges of accessing child pornography and child abuse material were duplicitous, and whether they involved different criminality from the possession charge. The court had to consider whether the offences of accessing child abuse material and possessing it involved the same criminality and whether the charges were duplicitous, which would have warranted a stay of proceedings. The court also had to consider whether the judge had erred in refusing to stay the charges relating to the access offences.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and held that the charges were not duplicitous and did not involve the same criminality. The court held that the offences of accessing and possessing child abuse material involved different criminality, as the former required an active use of a carriage service to access the material, while the latter required only the possession of the material. The court also held that the judge had not erred in refusing to stay the charges relating to the access offences. The court relied on the decisions of Pearce v The Queen and R v Fulop in reaching its decision. The court also considered the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code.

The court did not make any orders as the appeal was dismissed.