Grills v The Queen- PJE v The Queen

The High Court of Australia considered appeals by Grills and PJE against their convictions for murder. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of evidence obtained through covert surveillance, specifically recordings made by police officers who had entered the appellants' premises without a warrant. The appeals were heard together due to the common legal question raised.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the evidence obtained by the police through covert surveillance, in circumstances where their entry onto the appellants' property was unlawful, was admissible in the criminal proceedings. This involved an examination of the common law exclusionary rule concerning illegally or improperly obtained evidence and whether the circumstances of the surveillance warranted the exclusion of the recordings.

The Court, applying the principles established in *Bunning v Cross* and *Shamouil v The Queen*, held that the evidence was admissible. Brennan CJ, McHugh and Kirby JJ jointly reasoned that while the entry was unlawful, the illegality did not render the evidence obtained inherently unreliable or unfair to the accused. They emphasised that the court retains a discretion to admit such evidence if its probative value outweighs any prejudice to the accused, and that the illegality of the entry, in this instance, did not necessitate exclusion. The Court found that the evidence was relevant and its admission would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

The appeals were dismissed.