Solomon v The Queen

The applicant, Solomon, was convicted in New South Wales in 1987. He subsequently sought leave to appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal of New South Wales, which heard and determined his appeal on 15 November 1989. The Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the appeal, quashed the conviction, and set aside the sentence. This matter came before the High Court of Australia on an application for special leave to appeal.

The primary legal issue before the High Court concerned the grounds upon which the Court of Criminal Appeal had decided the applicant's appeal. The Court of Criminal Appeal had based its decision on a single ground relating to the standard of proof in the trial judge's direction to the jury. The applicant, however, had raised a large number of grounds of appeal, and the High Court considered whether there were other grounds that, if upheld, would have led to an unqualified quashing of the conviction.

The High Court's discussion focused on the utility of remitting the matter back to the Court of Criminal Appeal. The applicant argued that there was a possibility that if the matter were remitted, a new trial might not be ordered, allowing him to argue his original grounds of appeal. The Court considered whether any of the numerous grounds of appeal, beyond the one relied upon by the Court of Criminal Appeal, would have led to an unqualified quashing of the conviction.

The High Court granted special leave to appeal. The parties had prepared short minutes of order, and the application was not opposed. The outcome was that the matter was remitted to the Court of Criminal Appeal.