Commissioner of Police v Barbaro

The Commissioner of Police appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of a single judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales concerning the validity of a listening device warrant. The dispute centred on whether an apparent error in the expiry date of the warrant rendered it invalid.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether a listening device warrant issued under the *Listening Devices Act 1984* (NSW) was rendered invalid by an obvious mistake in its stated expiry date, where the intended date was otherwise clear from the context of the warrant.

The Court of Appeal held that the warrant was not invalidated by the erroneous end date. Applying principles of statutory construction, the Court reasoned that where a document contains an obvious mistake, and the true intention of the maker is apparent, the document should be construed so as to give effect to that intention. In this instance, the intended period of the warrant was clear, and the erroneous date was a mere slip. Therefore, the warrant was to be treated as if it had the correct expiry date. Leave to appeal was granted, and orders were made accordingly.