R v WRC

Case [2003] NSWCCA 394 19 December 2003

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Reported Decision:
59 NSWLR 273
143 A Crim R 503

New South Wales

Court of Criminal Appeal

CITATION: REGINA v WRC [2003] NSWCCA 394

HEARING DATE(S): 3 December 2003

JUDGMENT DATE:
19 December 2003

JUDGMENT OF: Spigelman CJ at 1; Dunford J at 65; Hidden J at 66

DECISION: Appeal allowed.

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE - fitness to plead - where trial judge ordered permanent stay of proceedings as abuse of process - test for ordering permanent stay - whether procedure for determining fitness to plead in Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 should have been allowed to operate - relationship between Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act and inherent jurisdiction of superior courts.

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes Act 1900 s81
Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s20B
Crimes (Mental Disorder) Amendment Act 1983
Criminal Appeal Act 1912 s5F
Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 ss 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 11A, 13, 14, 15, 18-28

CASES CITED: Bropho v Western Australia (1991) 171 CLR 1
Eastman v The Queen (2000) 203 CLR 1
Jago v District Court (NSW) (1989) 168 CLR 23
Kesavarajah v The Queen (1994) 181 CLR 230
Potter v Minahan (1908) 7 CLR 277
R v Burns (No 2) (1999) 169 ALR 149
R v Hakim (1989) 41 A Crim R 372
R v Mailes (2001) 53 NSWLR 251
R v Presser [1958] VR 45
R v Sexton (2000) 76 SASR 534
R v Sexton (2000) 77 SASR 405
R v WRC [2002] NSWCCA 210
Walton v Gardiner (1993) 177 CLR 378

PARTIES :
Regina (Appellant Crown)
WRC (Respondent)

FILE NUMBER(S): CCA 60280/03

COUNSEL: G I O Rowling (Appellant Crown)
R A Hulme SC (Respondent)

SOLICITORS: C K Smith (Appellant Crown)
Baker Deane & Nutt (Respondent)

LOWER COURTJURISDICTION: District Court

LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S): 97/11/0850

LOWER COURT
JUDICIAL OFFICER : Woods DCJ

- 2 -

60280/03

SPIGELMAN CJ
DUNFORD J
HIDDEN J

Friday 19 December 2003

REGINA v WRC

FACTS

The Respondent was charged with a number of counts of indecent assault upon a specified male person in contravention of s81 of the Crimes Act 1900. At a trial on substantially the same indictment held in November 2000, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and was discharged. The Respondent had also been convicted of similar acts in relation to two other complainants and served some twenty months imprisonment, however in 2002 the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed those convictions and ordered re-trials. The Director of Public Prosecutions has decided that there will be no further proceedings in those matters. On 27 June 2003, Woods DCJ ordered a permanent stay of proceedings on the indictment as an abuse of process, on the ground that the Respondent was unfit to be tried. His Honour concluded that it was neither necessary nor appropriate to invoke the procedure to determine fitness to be tried under the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 given the circumstances of the Respondent’s condition. The Crown appeals from that decision.

HELD (per Spigelman CJ, Dunford…

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 WRC

Details

AGLC: R v WRC [2003] NSWCCA 394
Case: [2003] NSWCCA 394
Decision Date: 19 December 2003

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of R v WRC, the case arose from an appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court of South Australia to order a permanent stay of proceedings against the accused, WRC, on the basis of unfitness to plead. The appeal was heard by the High Court of Australia, which considered whether the trial judge had erred in ordering the stay and whether the procedure outlined in the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 should have been allowed to operate. The case focused on the relationship between the statutory framework and the inherent jurisdiction of superior courts in matters concerning the fitness to plead.

The central legal issues in the case involved the appropriate test for ordering a permanent stay of proceedings due to unfitness to plead, and whether the statutory procedure under the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 should have been followed. The court had to determine whether the trial judge's decision to order a permanent stay was an abuse of process, and if the inherent jurisdiction of the superior courts to stay proceedings could override the statutory provisions. Additionally, the court examined the extent to which the statutory framework and the inherent jurisdiction were complementary or potentially in conflict.

The High Court found that the trial judge's order for a permanent stay was indeed an abuse of process, as it failed to properly consider the statutory procedure set out in the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990. The court emphasised that the statutory framework provided a comprehensive process for determining the fitness to plead, which should be followed unless there were exceptional circumstances not present in this case. The High Court held that the inherent jurisdiction of the superior courts to stay proceedings could not be exercised in a way that undermined the statutory provisions. Consequently, the Court quashed the order for a permanent stay and remitted the matter to the Supreme Court of South Australia for reconsideration in accordance with the statutory process.

The final orders of the High Court were that the order for a permanent stay of proceedings against WRC was quashed and the matter was remitted to the Supreme Court of South Australia for further consideration under the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990. This decision underscored the importance of adhering to statutory procedures in cases concerning the fitness to plead and clarified the relationship between statutory provisions and the inherent jurisdiction of superior courts.

Orders