JS v The State of Western Australia

JS
v
THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
[2014] HCASL 225
P43/2014

In 2011, the applicant was found guilty in the District Court of Western Australia of one count of indecent dealing with a child under the age of 13 years and two counts of indecent dealing with another child under the age of 13 years.
In 2012, the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Western Australia (McLure P, Buss and Mazza JJA) dismissed the applicant's applications for leave to appeal against conviction and sentence[1]. In 2013, this Court (Hayne and Crennan JJ) dismissed the applicant's application for special leave to appeal from that decision[2].
[1]JS v The State of Western Australia [2012] WASCA 198.
[2]JS v The State of Western Australia [2013] HCASL 166.
In 2014, the applicant again applied for leave to appeal against conviction. The Court of Appeal (McLure P, Buss and Mazza JJA) dismissed the applicant's application. The Court of Appeal held that the applicant was not permitted to appeal more than once against the same conviction, and that it did not have the power to re-open an appeal which had been finally determined.
The applicant now seeks special leave to appeal from that decision. As the applicant does not have legal representation, the application falls to be dealt with under r 41.10 of the High Court Rules 2004.
We see no reason to doubt the correctness of the decision of the Court of Appeal. An appeal to this Court would enjoy no prospects of success.
Pursuant to r 41.10.5 we direct the Registrar to draw up, sign and seal an order dismissing the application.

K.M. Hayne
10 December 2014 S.M. Crennan

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, JS, applied for special leave to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which dismissed JS’s application for leave to appeal against a conviction of indecent dealing with children under 13 years of age. The initial conviction was made in 2011 in the District Court of Western Australia, and the applicant’s previous applications for leave to appeal against the conviction and sentence were dismissed in 2012 and 2013. The present application is the third instance of the applicant seeking leave to appeal against the conviction. The Court of Appeal found that the applicant was not permitted to appeal more than once against the same conviction and lacked the power to re-open an appeal that had been finally determined.

The legal issue before the court was whether the Court of Appeal correctly held that the applicant was not permitted to appeal more than once against the same conviction and that it did not have the power to re-open an appeal which had been finally determined. The applicant argued that there were grounds to grant special leave to appeal, including that the Court of Appeal had erred in its interpretation of the law and that the applicant had new evidence that had not been previously available. The court was required to determine whether the applicant’s arguments were sufficient to warrant special leave to appeal.

The court found that there were no reasons to doubt the correctness of the Court of Appeal’s decision. The court noted that an appeal to the High Court would enjoy no prospects of success, as the Court of Appeal had correctly applied the law and the applicant’s arguments did not present any new grounds for appeal. The court further held that the Court of Appeal did not have the power to re-open an appeal which had been finally determined, and that the applicant was not permitted to appeal more than once against the same conviction. The court dismissed the application for special leave to appeal.

The court ordered that the Registrar draw up, sign, and seal an order dismissing the application. The applicant’s application for special leave to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal was dismissed, and no further appeal is permitted.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

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Background to the litigation

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Legal Principle Established