R v Riley

The case of R v Riley involved an appeal by the respondent against the decision of the trial judge to admit evidence obtained in breach of s 13 of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007. The evidence in question was audio recordings obtained from a covert listening device installed without proper authorisation. The appellant argued that the evidence should be excluded under s 138 of the Evidence Act 1995 on the grounds that its admission would render the trial unfair and the probative value of the evidence would be substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

The legal issue before the court was the scope of the exclusionary power under s 138 of the Evidence Act. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the trial judge correctly exercised the discretion to admit the evidence obtained in breach of the statutory requirements. The court considered the principles of judicial restraint in exercising the power to exclude evidence, as outlined in House v The King, and whether the probative value of the evidence outweighed the danger of unfair prejudice.

The court concluded that the trial judge had correctly exercised the discretion to admit the evidence. It was held that the probative value of the evidence was high, and the reliability of the evidence was not in question. The court also noted that the exclusion of the evidence would not necessarily result in an unfair trial, as the other evidence presented by the prosecution was strong. The court exercised judicial restraint in line with the principles established in House v The King, and found that the trial judge had not erred in admitting the evidence. The appeal was therefore dismissed.

No further orders were made by the court.