Krakouer v The Queen

In *Krakouer v The Queen*, the High Court of Australia considered an appeal against a conviction for murder. The appellant, Krakouer, had been found guilty of murder by a jury in the Supreme Court of Western Australia and sentenced to imprisonment. The appeal to the High Court concerned the fairness of the trial process and the admissibility of certain evidence.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the trial judge had erred in admitting evidence that the appellant had remained silent when questioned by police after being cautioned. Specifically, the Court had to determine whether the admission of this evidence, and the directions given to the jury regarding its use, infringed the appellant's right to silence and thus rendered the trial unfair.

The High Court, comprising Gaudron, Gummow and Hayne JJ, held that the admission of evidence of the appellant's silence after caution, and the directions given to the jury concerning that silence, constituted a miscarriage of justice. Their Honours reasoned that, in the absence of any statutory provision to the contrary, a person's silence when cautioned by police is not evidence of guilt. To allow such silence to be used as evidence, or to permit inferences to be drawn from it, would undermine the fundamental right to silence. The Court found that the jury may have been prejudiced by this evidence, leading to an unfair trial.

Consequently, the High Court allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction, and ordered a new trial.