Rowbottom v The Queen

In *Rowbottom v The Queen*, the appellant, Rowbottom, appealed to the High Court of Australia against his conviction for murder. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of certain evidence obtained during a police investigation.

The High Court was required to determine whether the evidence, which included a confession made by the appellant and items found at his residence, had been obtained in contravention of the *Crimes Act 1914* (Cth) and, if so, whether it should have been excluded from the trial proceedings under the discretion to exclude improperly or illegally obtained evidence. A further issue was whether the trial judge had erred in admitting the evidence.

McHugh and Callinan JJ, in a joint judgment, considered the provisions of s 23F of the *Crimes Act 1914* (Cth), which deals with the admissibility of evidence obtained in contravention of the Act. Their Honours held that the evidence in question had indeed been obtained in contravention of the Act. However, they found that the trial judge had not erred in exercising their discretion to admit the evidence, as the circumstances did not warrant its exclusion. The High Court dismissed the appeal.