State of New South Wales v McCarthy

The State of New South Wales appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a District Court decision that found police officers had committed trespass to land. The dispute arose when four police officers entered the respondent's property without his consent, relying on provisions of the *Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002* (NSW) to justify their entry.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge erred in failing to find that the police officers had reasonable grounds to believe it was necessary to enter the premises immediately to prevent imminent and significant physical injury, as required by section 9(1) of the Act, or that they had reasonable grounds to believe the person they sought to arrest was inside the premises, as required by section 10(2) of the Act. A further issue concerned whether the lawful exercise of powers under sections 9 or 10 was conditional on later compliance with section 201(1) of the Act, which mandates the provision of information to the person subject to the exercise of a power, where it was not practicable to provide such information at the time of entry.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the verdict and judgment of the District Court. The Court ordered that the State of New South Wales pay the respondent’s costs of the appeal.