Coco v The Queen

The case of *Coco v The Queen* came before the High Court of Australia concerning an appeal and applications for special leave to appeal. The appellant, Mr Coco, sought to appeal a decision related to matters arising under the *Invasion of Privacy Act*. In addition to the main appeal, there were two applications for special leave to appeal: one from a decision in civil proceedings (*Coco v Shaw*) and another to renew an earlier application for special leave concerning the principle established in *Bunning v Cross*.

The legal issues before the Court included whether the appellant's actions constituted a contravention of the *Invasion of Privacy Act*, and the application of the exclusionary rule derived from *Bunning v Cross*. This latter issue concerned whether evidence obtained through a serious and illegal invasion of privacy should be excluded, and how such a finding might affect the exercise of discretion regarding the admissibility of evidence. The Court also considered the potential for *res judicata* in relation to the civil proceedings.

The Court's reasoning, as indicated by the transcript, involved a consideration of the trial judge's earlier ruling that the police officers had acted lawfully under the *Invasion of Privacy Act*. The Chief Justice and Justice Pincus had agreed with this conclusion. However, the application for special leave on the *Bunning v Cross* ground was renewed to address the possibility that a finding on the appeal might reveal a serious and illegal invasion of privacy, which could then impact the discretion to admit evidence. The Court had previously refused special leave in the *Coco v Shaw* matter, deeming the civil proceedings to be fragmenting the criminal proceedings, but allowed for its renewal to avoid any suggestion of *res judicata*.