Australian Crime Commission v Stoddart

The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. The dispute concerned whether a witness, Mrs Stoddart, could refuse to answer questions put to her by an examiner of the ACC on the grounds of spousal privilege. Mrs Stoddart had been summoned to give evidence regarding federally relevant criminal activity involving her husband.

The High Court was required to determine three core legal issues. First, whether a competent and compellable witness in court proceedings possesses a common law right to refuse to answer questions that might tend to expose their spouse to criminal conviction, referred to as "spousal privilege". Secondly, whether, in the absence of contrary statutory provisions, a person appearing before an investigative body that is not a court bound by the rules of evidence can invoke this spousal privilege. Thirdly, whether the *Australian Crime Commission Act 2002* (Cth) abrogated this alleged right.

The High Court concluded that at the time of the Act's enactment in 2002, and presently, the common law in Australia did not recognise the spousal privilege asserted by Mrs Stoddart. The Court distinguished between a witness being "compellable" to give evidence and the ability to claim a privilege in response to particular questions. The Court found that previous decisions, such as *All Saints*, *Hoskyn*, and *Riddle*, used the term "compellable" to mean that a witness could be obliged to give evidence, rather than implying a right to claim privilege against certain questions.

The appeal was allowed, and the orders of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia were set aside. The High Court ordered that the appeal to the Federal Court be dismissed, and the ACC was to pay Mrs Stoddart's costs in the High Court.