Leeth v The Queen; Kirk v The Queen; Kirk v The Queen; Donovan v The Queen

These proceedings before the High Court of Australia involved applications for special leave to appeal and a special case stated, concerning multiple appellants including Leeth and the Kirks. The core dispute revolved around the power of the Court of Criminal Appeal to fix non-parole periods and the proper consideration of comparable sentences when imposing penalties.

The legal issues before the Court included whether the Court of Criminal Appeal possessed the authority to fix a non-parole period, particularly when such a power was not explicitly granted by statute or was exercised in a manner that exceeded its statutory remit. Additionally, the Court was required to determine the principles governing the consideration of comparable sentences from other jurisdictions when sentencing, and whether the Court of Criminal Appeal had erred in its approach to this matter.

The Court considered the submission that the Court of Criminal Appeal had acted without power in fixing a non-parole period, arguing that if this were the case, the original sentence should be set aside and the appellant remitted for re-sentencing. Furthermore, the Court examined the method by which comparable sentences were taken into account, suggesting that certain considerations might have been irrelevant or improperly applied in the determination of the sentence.