Slape v The Queen

In *Slape v The Queen*, the applicant, Slape, sought to appeal a ruling made by an Auxiliary Judge concerning the severance of charges. The appeal was brought before the Court of Appeal of South Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was the competence of Slape's appeal against the severance ruling. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the appeal was properly brought, considering the requirements of the *Criminal Procedure Act 1921* (SA) and the inherent powers of the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal found the appeal to be incompetent. It reasoned that Slape had not sought a stay of proceedings from the trial court on the grounds of abuse, nor had he obtained permission to appeal from the trial court as mandated by section 157(1)(d)(i) of the *Criminal Procedure Act 1921* (SA). The court further held that there was no statutory right of appeal from such an interlocutory decision, nor a basis to seek permission to appeal directly from the Court of Appeal. Even if permission could have been sought, it would have been refused due to the inappropriateness of fragmenting the litigation. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed as incompetent.