Downey v The Queen

[1993] HCATrans 139

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry

Sydney No S2 of 1993

B e t w e e n -

LORELLE JOY DOWNEY

Applicant

and

THE QUEEN

Respondent

Directions hearing

MASON CJ

(In Chambers)

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT SYDNEY ON THURSDAY, 3 JUNE 1993, AT 10.15 AM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

Downey 1 3/6/93

MSC. LOUKAS:  I appear for the applicant, Your Honour.

(instructed by Paul K. Bell & Co)

MRS. KAVANAGH:  If the Court pleases, I appear on behalf of

the Crown. (of the New South Wales Director of

Public Prosecutions)

HIS HONOUR:	Ms Loukas.
MS LOUKAS:	Your Honour, as I understand it, the matter is

in the list because there has been some delay in
the filing of the affidavits and the various

associated documentation, and I am instructed that

all that was attended to yesterday.

HIS HONOUR:  Have they been filed, Mr Deputy Registrar?

THE DEPUTY REGISTRAR: It has been filed, yes.

HIS HONOUR: That seems to dispose of that. There is

nothing else that remains to be done as far as the

applicant is concerned?

MS LOUKAS:	No, there is not.
HIS HONOUR:	What do you say, Mr Kavanagh?
MR KAVANAGH:	We were served yesterday afternoon,

Your Honour. We have not as yet actually been

served with the application for special leave but

we have received the supporting documents, and I am

happy to put a phone call through to the

applicant's solicitors to obtain a copy of the

application.

HIS HONOUR:  I see. Is there anything that you want done so

far as the future conduct of the matter is

concerned?

MR KAVANAGH:	No, there is not, Your Honour.
HIS HONOUR:	Ms Loukas, do you have any explanation at all

for the delay?

MS LOUKAS:  Yes. I can indicate that the delay was, in

essence, a result of the late availability of the

judgment in the CCA. That was not made available

to senior counsel in the matter until 3 May

and - - -

HIS HONOUR:  But when did the judgment of the Court of

Criminal Appeal become generally available?

On my instructions, not until May.

HIS HONOUR:  Mr Kavanagh, is that correct?

Downey	2	3/6/93
MR KAVANAGH:	If I might just have a moment, Your Honour.	I

think that our position is that the judgment was

available some time before that.

HIS HONOUR: That is my impression too.

Mr Deputy Registrar, do you know when the judgment

was available from the Court of Criminal Appeal?

THE DEPUTY REGISTRAR:  There is a note on the file. We were

advised it had been available ..... before that day. But I did not have a discussion with the solicitor for the applicant and he had no ..... been going to

and unbeknown to them they may have been going to

the wrong registry. They had been informed that it

was not available, so he told me.

HIS HONOUR:	What do you mean, the wrong registry?
THE DEPUTY REGISTRAR:	The Court of Criminal Appeal has a

different registry from the Court of Appeal,

Your Honour.

HIS HONOUR:  And the suggestion is they attended at the

Court of Appeal registry?

THE DEPUTY REGISTRAR: Well, the solicitor said that the

judgment had not been available and our information

was that it had been available .....

MR KAVANAGH:  If I might indicate, Your Honour: we received

our copy on 24 March.

HIS HONOUR:  24 March? Well, there does not seem to be any

satisfactory explanation as to why it was not made

available to senior counsel earlier than it was,

Ms Loukas.

MS LOUKAS:  Yes. Well, it is my understanding that senior

counsel received the judgment on 3 May and the

delay since 3 May is attributable to workload and

what have you of senior counsel. But up until that

date my understanding is that the CCA judgment was

not available.

HIS HONOUR:  You had better inform those from whom you

receive instructions that the time limits fixed in

the Court's rules and the practice direction are

there to be complied with and that the Court

expects them to be complied with. It seems to me

that in too many of these matters the attitude of
the solicitors is quite cavalier and henceforth the

Court does not propose to tolerate it. So, if you would be good enough to carry that message in as

clear terms as you are capable of enunciating back

to those who instruct you.

Downey 3 3/6/93

Yes, I will convey that with some clarity,

Your Honour.

Downey 3/6/93