Henderson v State of Queensland

In the matter of Henderson v State of Queensland, the appellant contested the seizure of $598,325 by Queensland police, asserting ownership of the funds. The case was heard in the Court of Appeal, which was tasked with determining several legal issues arising from the confiscation of the appellant's property under the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act 2002 (Qld). The primary legal questions revolved around the procedural correctness of the State's application for a forfeiture order, the appropriate standard of proof for exclusion orders, and whether the primary judge correctly considered the public interest in making the forfeiture order.

The court found that the amendments to the State's applications for restraining and forfeiture orders did not constitute new applications. It held that the appellant failed to meet the burden of proving on the balance of probabilities that the property was not illegally acquired. The court also ruled that the standard of proof for exclusion orders under section 68(2) of the Confiscation Act is not lower than the standard under section 8(3) of the Act. Furthermore, the court upheld the primary judge's ability to rely on an expert's opinion about the age and origin of the property based on a sketch, finding it reasonable for the primary judge to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the property was illegally acquired. Finally, the court found no error in the primary judge's decision not to consider the public interest aspect of section 58(4) of the Act, as the appellant had not argued this point during the trial.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.