Kamleh v The Queen

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by Kamleh against his conviction for murder. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of a confession made by Kamleh to police.

The High Court was required to determine whether the confession was improperly obtained, thereby rendering it inadmissible under the common law. Specifically, the Court had to assess whether the police conduct in obtaining the confession breached the principles of fairness and whether the confession was voluntary.

The Court reasoned that the admissibility of a confession depends on whether it was made voluntarily and whether its admission would be unfair to the accused. In this instance, the Court found that the police had engaged in a course of conduct that was designed to elicit a confession, and that this conduct, viewed objectively, was unfair. The principles of fairness require that an accused person not be subjected to oppressive or unfair questioning. The Court held that the confession was therefore inadmissible.

The appeal was allowed, the conviction was quashed, and a new trial was ordered.