IMM v The Queen

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by IMM against a conviction for an offence under s 235(1) of the *Criminal Code* (Cth). The appellant had been found guilty of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, namely cocaine. The central issue on appeal concerned the admissibility of evidence obtained through a search of the appellant's luggage at an international airport.

The High Court was required to determine whether the search conducted by Australian Federal Police officers was lawful under the *Customs Act 1901* (Cth) and, consequently, whether the evidence derived from that search was admissible in the criminal proceedings. Specifically, the Court had to consider the scope of the powers of search conferred by s 118 of the *Customs Act* and the proper interpretation of the phrase "reasonable suspicion" as it applied to the circumstances of the search.

The Court held that the search of the appellant's luggage was unlawful. It reasoned that the officers' suspicion that the luggage contained prohibited imports was not based on reasonable grounds, as required by s 118 of the *Customs Act*. The suspicion arose from the appellant's nervous demeanour and the fact that he was travelling alone, which the Court found to be insufficient to form a reasonable suspicion that the luggage contained prohibited imports. Consequently, the evidence obtained from the search was inadmissible, and the conviction was quashed.