Buckland v The Queen

Buckland appealed his conviction for armed robbery to the High Court of Australia. The central issue on appeal concerned the admissibility of evidence obtained from Buckland's co-accused, who had confessed to the crime and implicated Buckland. The co-accused had subsequently died before the trial.

The High Court was required to determine whether the trial judge erred in admitting the co-accused's confession as evidence against Buckland, given that the co-accused was unavailable to be cross-examined. This raised questions about the application of the hearsay rule and its exceptions in criminal proceedings, particularly where a co-accused's statement implicates another defendant.

The Court held that the co-accused's confession was inadmissible hearsay. Their Honours explained that the general rule against admitting hearsay evidence is fundamental to the adversarial system, as it ensures that evidence is tested by cross-examination. While exceptions to the hearsay rule exist, none applied in this instance to permit the admission of the co-accused's statement against Buckland. The Court emphasised that the unavailability of the co-accused due to death did not, in itself, create an exception to the hearsay rule that would allow the confession to be admitted as evidence against Buckland.

The appeal was allowed, and the conviction was quashed.