Kostikidis v The Queen

In *Kostikidis v The Queen*, the High Court of Australia considered an appeal from a conviction for armed robbery. The appellant, Kostikidis, had been found guilty by a jury and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. The appeal concerned the admissibility of certain evidence and the fairness of the trial process.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the trial judge had erred in admitting evidence that had been obtained in circumstances that might have rendered it inadmissible at common law. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the evidence, which included statements made by the appellant, was obtained in contravention of the appellant's rights or in a manner that was unfair to him, and if so, whether its prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value.

Dawson J, delivering the judgment of the Court, affirmed the principles governing the admissibility of evidence obtained in contravention of common law rights. His Honour reiterated that while the court has a discretion to exclude unfairly obtained evidence, this discretion is not absolute and must be exercised by balancing the probative value of the evidence against its prejudicial effect. In this instance, Dawson J found that the evidence in question was properly admitted by the trial judge, as it was both relevant and its probative value was not outweighed by any unfair prejudice to the appellant. The appeal was therefore dismissed.