McGee (a pseudonym) v The Queen

The appeal was brought by the defendant, referred to as McGee, against a decision by the County Court not to stay the proceedings against him on the basis of an unreasonable delay. McGee was facing charges of indecent assault and common assault, with the alleged offences occurring over 55 years prior. The decision of the County Court was reviewed by the Supreme Court of Victoria.

The court was required to determine whether the trial judge had erred in his assessment of the importance of the deceased witnesses in the case. The appellant contended that the judge had overlooked the critical role of the deceased witnesses in the context of the defence's case. The Crown conceded that the trial judge had made an error in assessing the importance of these witnesses by reference to the prosecution's case, rather than the defence's case. This concession effectively reopened the discretion of the court to consider the stay application afresh.

The court found that there was a very substantial delay in bringing the charges against the appellant. It was noted that the deceased witnesses were centrally important to the case, and that the prosecution witness directly contradicted the complainant's account. Furthermore, there were gaps in the evidence and a four-year delay between the complainant's initial statement and the subsequent police investigation. The court concluded that these factors, coupled with the significant lapse of time, amounted to rare and exceptional circumstances warranting a stay of the proceedings. The appeal was allowed, and the matter was stayed indefinitely.