R v Nguyen

The appellant, R v Nguyen, was convicted by a jury of two counts of trafficking in a controlled drug, specifically heroin and methylamphetamine, contrary to s 32(3) of the Controlled Substances Act 1984 (SA). The prosecution alleged that the appellant possessed these drugs with the intention of selling them. The appeal was heard by Vanstone, White, and Kelly JJ.

The legal issues before the court included whether the jury's verdicts were unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence, whether the trial judge provided inadequate directions to the jury regarding the concept of possession, and whether the trial judge erred in directing the jury on the operation of the presumption in s 32(5) of the Controlled Substances Act due to the alleged invalidity of the regulation prescribing the trafficable quantity.

The court considered the appellant's argument that the regulation specifying the trafficable quantity was invalid on the grounds of unreasonableness. The appellant contended that the prescribed quantity should reflect an amount likely to be possessed for sale rather than personal use. The court acknowledged the weight of observations from previous cases suggesting that regulations should consider quantities likely to be possessed for trade, but clarified that this did not necessitate a strict dichotomy between personal use and trade quantities, as some amounts could be consistent with both. The court ultimately found that the ground of appeal concerning the invalidity of the regulation lacked substance.

The court dismissed the appeal, concluding that it must be dismissed.