Domican v The Queen

Thomas Christopher Domican applied to the High Court of Australia for special leave to appeal. The application concerned the adequacy of a warning given to a jury regarding the dangers of identification evidence.

The central legal issue before the Court was the nature and content of the warning a trial judge must give to a jury concerning the dangers of identification evidence. Mr Domican's application argued that the warning provided in his trial was insufficient and that the Court of Criminal Appeal's judgment on this matter represented a departure from its previous decisions and indicated a divergence in approach compared to other Australian jurisdictions.

The applicant submitted that the need for a specific type of warning on identification evidence was a legitimate ground for special leave. This was based on the assertion that the Court of Criminal Appeal had deviated from its own precedents and that there was an inconsistency in how such warnings were approached across different Australian states. The applicant contended that the degree to which a trial judge is required to warn a jury about identification evidence was the primary point upon which the application turned.