Phillips v The Queen

Phillips (the appellant) appealed to the High Court of Australia against his conviction for murder. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of certain evidence obtained from the appellant, specifically a confession made to police. The appellant argued that this confession was unlawfully obtained and therefore should have been excluded from evidence at his trial.

The High Court was required to determine whether the confession was obtained in contravention of the appellant's rights, particularly in light of the circumstances under which it was made. This involved considering the provisions of the *Crimes Act 1914* (Cth) and relevant common law principles governing the admissibility of confessional evidence, including whether the confession was voluntary and whether its admission would be unfair to the appellant.

Gummow and Heydon JJ held that the confession was unlawfully obtained. Their Honours reasoned that the police had failed to caution the appellant in accordance with their statutory obligations before eliciting the confession. This failure rendered the confession inadmissible at common law and under the *Crimes Act*. The court applied the principle that evidence obtained in contravention of statutory requirements, particularly those designed to protect an individual's rights, should generally be excluded unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary. The appeal was allowed, the conviction was quashed, and a new trial was ordered.