R v Gunter - [2000] QCA 270

[2000] QCA 270
COURT OF APPEAL

DAVIES JA
THOMAS JA
WILLIAMS J

[R v Gunter]

CA No 5839 of 2000

THE QUEEN

RICHARD STEPHEN GUNTER Appellant

BRISBANE

..DATE 11/07/2000

JUDGMENT

WILLIAMS J: This is an appeal against a decision of Justice Douglas refusing the appellant bail. The application which came before Justice Douglas on 7 June 2000 was for bail pending the hearing of an application by the present appellant for special leave to appeal to the High Court from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of 23 May 2000. In the circumstances it is necessary to refer briefly to some background facts.

In the years 1995 and 1997 the appellant was convicted of three summary offences in the Magistrates Court at Ipswich. With respect to each offence a fine was imposed and he was also ordered to pay an amount by way of costs. In each instance there was a provision that in default of paying the fine and costs the appellant should be imprisoned for a period of time.

The appellant labours under the view that the currency normally used by persons in Australia for the payment of debts is not valid legal tender. Undoubtedly that belief was behind the commission of each of the three offences which involved carrying on an activity without having paid the prescribed licensing fee associated with that activity. That belief would explain at least in part his non-payment of the fines and costs.

With respect to costs he has an additional argument, namely that the order for costs made in the Magistrates Court was contrary to a provision of Magna Carta notwithstanding the statutory power conferred on a Magistrates Court to make an order for costs in such circumstances.

When the authorities sought to invoke the default imprisonment provisions the appellant endeavoured to challenge the initial orders in superior Courts. It is sufficient to say that on 23 May 2000 the matter finally came before this Court. Prior to that he had been given bail by Justice Derrington. Clearly Justice Derrington had jurisdiction pursuant to sections 8 and 10 of the Bail Act 1980 to grant bail whilst there was an appeal pending to this Court.

The Court of Appeal on 23 May 2000 held that there was no error in the lower Court's handling of the matters involving the appellant and dismissed the appeal. At the conclusion of the Court pronouncing its reasons the applicant is recorded as saying, "I am out on bail at the moment, I want to extend the bail while I put this application into the High Court and move this up to the High Court." The President of the Court of Appeal then announced, "The application for an extension of bail is refused."

Following that, the appellant applied to Justice Douglas as Chamber Judge for bail as I have already indicated. His Honour took the view, on the authority of the decision of Justice Shepherdson in the matter of Cameron Scott Lewis,
No 8255/98,…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Gunter

Details

AGLC: R v Gunter [2000] QCA 270
Case: [2000] QCA 270
Decision Date: 11/07/2000

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The appeal in the case of R v Gunter was brought before the Queensland Court of Appeal. The appellant, Richard Stephen Gunter, sought to appeal a decision of Justice Douglas who had refused him bail. The bail application was made pending the hearing of an application by the appellant for special leave to appeal to the High Court from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of 23 May 2000. The appellant had previously been convicted of summary offences in the Magistrates Court at Ipswich and had been fined and ordered to pay costs. He believed that Australian currency was not valid legal tender, a belief which had led to his non-payment of fines and costs and default imprisonment provisions being invoked.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether a single Judge of the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to grant bail in the circumstances of the case. The Court noted that statutory power must be conferred if bail is to be granted to a prisoner serving a custodial sentence. The Bail Act 1980 conferred power on a Judge of the Supreme Court to grant bail pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal, but only while the criminal proceeding was pending in the Court. The Court held that neither a single Judge of the Supreme Court nor the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to grant bail in the circumstances of the case, as the appellant had sought bail from the Supreme Court rather than the High Court. The Court also noted that the grounds on which the appellant wished to obtain special leave were devoid of merit.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the appellant's arguments were nonsense and that the circumstances did not justify the granting of bail. The appeal was unanimously dismissed by the Court.

Orders