Carter v The Queen

In *Carter v The Queen*, the High Court of Australia considered an appeal by the applicant, Carter, against his conviction for murder. The dispute arose from the applicant's assertion that the trial judge had erred in law by failing to direct the jury on the defence of provocation.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the evidence presented at trial was capable of supporting a finding that the applicant had acted under provocation, thereby entitling him to a direction on that defence. This required the Court to consider the threshold for raising the defence of provocation and the circumstances under which a judge is obliged to leave such a defence to the jury.

The High Court held that the defence of provocation is available where the act of the accused was a response to a provocation that caused him to lose self-control. However, the Court emphasised that the provocation must be such as would have had that effect on an ordinary person. In this instance, McHugh and Gummow JJ found that the evidence did not establish a sufficient evidentiary basis to suggest that the applicant had lost self-control due to provocation. Therefore, the trial judge was not obliged to direct the jury on the defence. The appeal was dismissed.