Glasby v The Queen

Glasby appealed his conviction for murder in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The appeal concerned the admissibility of evidence obtained from a search of the appellant's property.

The central legal issue before the High Court of Australia was whether the evidence obtained from the search, which was conducted pursuant to a warrant issued under s 32 of the *Crimes Act 1914* (Cth), was admissible at trial. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the warrant was lawfully issued, given that the information supporting the application for the warrant was not sworn or affirmed as required by s 32(1) of the *Crimes Act*.

The High Court held that the failure to swear or affirm the information rendered the warrant invalid. Consequently, the search conducted under the invalid warrant was unlawful. The Court further held that the evidence obtained from the unlawful search should have been excluded from the trial under s 138 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (Cth), which requires courts to exclude evidence unlawfully or improperly obtained unless the desirability of admitting the evidence outweighs the undesirability of admitting evidence that has been so obtained. The Court found that the undesirability of admitting evidence obtained in contravention of fundamental legal requirements outweighed any desirability of admitting it.

The appeal was allowed, the conviction was quashed, and a new trial was ordered.