Huxley v The Queen

Huxley appealed to the High Court of Australia against his conviction for murder. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of certain evidence obtained by police during an investigation.

The High Court was required to determine whether the evidence, which included statements made by the appellant and items seized from his property, was obtained in contravention of the *Australian Consumer Law* (ACL) and, if so, whether it should have been excluded from use at trial under s 138 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (NSW). A further issue was whether the trial judge had erred in admitting the evidence despite the potential contravention.

The Court reasoned that the ACL did not apply to the conduct of police officers in the course of a criminal investigation. Therefore, the evidence was not obtained in contravention of the ACL. Furthermore, the Court held that even if there had been a contravention of some other law, the trial judge had correctly exercised their discretion under s 138 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (NSW) in admitting the evidence, as the probative value of the evidence outweighed any impropriety in its admission. The Court affirmed the principles governing the exercise of discretion under s 138, emphasising the need to balance the public interest in the admission of relevant evidence against the public interest in the observance of the law.

The appeal was dismissed.