Koushappi v The Queen

Koushappi appealed to the High Court of Australia against his conviction for armed robbery. The appeal concerned the admissibility of certain evidence obtained during the investigation of the offence.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the evidence, specifically a confession made by Koushappi to police, had been obtained in contravention of section 235 of the *Crimes Act 1900* (NSW) and, if so, whether that evidence should have been excluded from trial under section 138 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (Cth). The court was required to consider the proper application of the exclusionary provisions for improperly or illegally obtained evidence.

The High Court, in allowing the appeal, held that the confession was obtained in contravention of section 235 of the *Crimes Act 1900* (NSW) because Koushappi had not been cautioned in accordance with the requirements of that section. Applying section 138 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (Cth), their Honours found that the unfairness to Koushappi in admitting the evidence outweighed any public interest in its admission. The court reasoned that the breach of the statutory cautioning requirement was significant and that the admission of the confession would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

The High Court ordered that the conviction be quashed and that a new trial be held.