Reg v Lewis

The case of *Reg v Lewis* involved an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia. The applicant was the Crown in right of the Northern Territory, appealing against the acquittal of the respondent, Michael Anthony Lewis, by the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal. The Crown's application for special leave was primarily based on two procedural grounds.

The legal issues before the High Court concerned the propriety of the Court of Criminal Appeal's conduct during the appeal hearing. Specifically, the Crown argued that the Court of Criminal Appeal had reconstituted itself after the hearing had substantially commenced without direct advertence to this change, and more significantly, that it had determined the appeal without affording the Crown an opportunity to present argument on the substantive grounds of appeal. The Crown also raised the issue of whether an active objection to these procedural irregularities was a prerequisite for raising them on appeal.

The Crown's submission was that the Court of Criminal Appeal had adopted an unusual course in hearing the appeal of an unrepresented respondent, with counsel appearing as amicus curiae but actively participating. The appeal hearing, which extended over several days, involved the court being composed of different judges on different occasions without explicit notification. Crucially, the Crown contended that no argument on the merits of the appeal was ever presented to the Court of Criminal Appeal, despite extensive evidence being led on preliminary matters. The Crown sought the High Court's intervention to address these procedural deficiencies.