Pickett v Western Australia

The High Court of Australia considered appeals by Robert Pickett and others against their convictions for murder. The appellants were part of a group of eight males who assaulted the deceased, Patrick Steven Slater. One member of the group, an 11-year-old youth referred to as PM, may have inflicted the fatal stab wound. The Crown alleged that the appellants, who did not inflict the fatal wound, were guilty of murder under sections 7(b), 7(c), or 8 of the *Criminal Code* (WA), which deal with parties to offences. A key issue was whether the appellants could be convicted of murder if the person who inflicted the fatal wound, PM, lacked the criminal capacity to understand he ought not to have committed the act, as required by section 29 of the Code.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether the trial judge erred in declining to direct the jury that they could not convict the appellants of murder unless satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that PM did not cause the death. This question hinged on whether the term "an offence is committed" in sections 7 and 8 of the *Criminal Code* required proof of the criminal responsibility of the person who physically performed the act constituting the offence, or if it referred to the act or omission itself.

The High Court, in dismissing the appeals, reasoned that the liability of the appellants under sections 7 and 8 of the *Criminal Code* did not depend on proof that the person who inflicted the fatal wound was criminally responsible. The Court held that sections 7 and 8 attribute the act or omission constituting the offence to other persons, not the criminal responsibility of the actor. Therefore, the circumstance that a participant may have an immunity from criminal responsibility due to their personal circumstances does not prevent the operation of these sections against other participants. The Court clarified that "an offence is committed" refers to the act or omission that constitutes the offence, and the relevant sections deem each category of person to be a party to that offence, irrespective of the actor's criminal responsibility.