Dastagir v The Queen

The applicant, Mr Dastagir, was convicted of a number of offences, including aggravated robbery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He appealed his conviction to the Court of Criminal Appeal of New South Wales, which dismissed his appeal. Mr Dastagir then sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia.

The High Court was required to determine whether the trial judge had erred in admitting evidence of a confession made by Mr Dastagir to police. Specifically, the court considered whether the confession was unfairly prejudicial to Mr Dastagir, and whether the trial judge had properly exercised their discretion under s 137 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (NSW) to exclude evidence that would be unfairly prejudicial to a defendant.

French CJ and Gageler J, in a joint judgment, held that the trial judge had not erred in admitting the confession. Their Honours reasoned that while the confession was undoubtedly prejudicial, it was also highly probative of Mr Dastagir's guilt. They found that the trial judge had properly balanced the probative value of the evidence against its prejudicial effect, and that there was no basis to interfere with the exercise of the judge's discretion. The High Court therefore refused special leave to appeal.