Awad v The Queen; Tambakakis v The Queen

The High Court of Australia considered appeals by Awad and Tambakakis against their convictions for murder. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of evidence obtained through covert police surveillance, specifically audio recordings made by listening devices planted in a vehicle and a hotel room. The applicants argued that the evidence was improperly admitted at trial, leading to their convictions.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the admission of the audio recordings constituted a miscarriage of justice. This required the Court to determine whether the evidence was obtained unlawfully and, if so, whether its admission was so prejudicial to the applicants that it rendered their trials unfair. The Court also had to consider the application of the exclusionary rule, which generally prohibits the admission of illegally obtained evidence, and the exceptions to that rule.

The High Court reasoned that the evidence was obtained in contravention of statutory provisions governing the use of listening devices. However, the Court held that the admission of the evidence did not necessarily result in a miscarriage of justice. Applying the proviso to section 6(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) (and its equivalent in other jurisdictions), the Court found that, despite the unlawful admission of the recordings, there was no reasonable doubt that the jury would have convicted the applicants on the other evidence presented at trial. Therefore, the appeals were dismissed.