McFarlane v Van Eyle

McFarlane v Van Eyle concerned an appeal to the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Criminal Appeal, from a decision of a single judge of the Supreme Court. The appeal arose from the single judge's determination of an appeal against a finding of guilt made by a magistrate.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Criminal Appeal was whether the appeal judge had correctly applied the test established in *M v The Queen* (1994) 181 CLR 487 when considering the appeal from the magistrate's decision. This involved examining whether there was a logical difficulty or error in the appeal judge's factual analysis of the evidence presented before the magistrate.

The Court of Criminal Appeal found that the appeal judge had erred in their application of the relevant legal principles and in their factual analysis. Consequently, the Court allowed the appeal, setting aside the orders made by the Supreme Court on 13 January 2022. The proceedings were remitted back to the Supreme Court to be determined according to law.