Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions v Jovanovic

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (the Director) sought leave to appeal to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia against a judgment of a single Judge. The judgment below had allowed the respondent to withdraw her pleas of guilty in the Magistrates Court to two counts of obtaining a financial advantage contrary to s 135.2(1) of the *Criminal Code* (Cth). The Director contended that the Supreme Court Judge had erred in permitting the withdrawal of these guilty pleas.

The central legal issue before the Full Court was whether the Supreme Court Judge had erred in exercising their discretion to allow the respondent to withdraw her pleas of guilty. This required the Court to consider the principles governing the withdrawal of guilty pleas and the circumstances in which a judge may grant such an application, particularly when the pleas have already been entered in the Magistrates Court.

The Full Court granted the Director permission to appeal, finding that the grounds of appeal raised were reasonably arguable. This indicates that the Court considered there to be a legitimate question as to whether the Supreme Court Judge had correctly applied the relevant legal principles when allowing the withdrawal of the guilty pleas. The Court did not determine the substantive appeal itself, but rather found that the Director had demonstrated a sufficient basis to proceed with a full appeal.