Lane v The Queen

In *Lane v The Queen*, the High Court of Australia considered an appeal from a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal of Queensland. The appellant, Lane, had been convicted of a number of offences, including murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The central dispute on appeal concerned the admissibility of certain evidence obtained from the appellant's mobile phone.

The High Court was required to determine whether the search of the appellant's mobile phone, conducted without a warrant, was lawful under the *Crime and Misconduct Act 2001* (Qld) and, if not, whether the evidence obtained from that search should have been excluded from the trial. A further issue was whether the trial judge had erred in admitting the evidence, notwithstanding potential unlawleness, by applying the wrong test for exclusion.

The Court held that the search of the mobile phone was unlawful as it did not fall within any of the exceptions to the warrant requirement under the *Crime and Misconduct Act 2001* (Qld). In reaching this conclusion, Kiefel CJ and Bell J emphasised that the Act provided a comprehensive regime for searches and that the common law power to search incident to arrest did not extend to digital devices in the manner conducted. The judges further found that the trial judge had erred in admitting the evidence, as the test for exclusion applied was not the correct one under the relevant legislation, which required a consideration of whether the admission of the evidence would have a tendency to prejudice the fair trial of the appellant.

The High Court allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction, and remitted the matter to the Court of Criminal Appeal of Queensland for re-hearing.