Suresh v The Queen

Suresh appealed to the High Court of Australia against his conviction for armed robbery. The central dispute concerned the admissibility of evidence obtained from the appellant, which the appellant argued was obtained in contravention of his rights.

The High Court was required to determine whether the evidence, specifically a confession made by the appellant, was unlawfully obtained and therefore inadmissible under s 138 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (NSW). This involved considering whether the admission of the evidence would be unfair to the appellant, and whether the impropriety in obtaining the evidence outweighed its probative value.

The Court reasoned that the confession was obtained after the appellant had been cautioned and had indicated a desire to confess. While there was some impropriety in the manner in which the police conducted the interview, the Court found that the confession was not involuntary and that its admission would not be unfair to the appellant. The probative value of the confession was considered high, and the impropriety was not so significant as to outweigh this value. The Court applied the principles of s 138 of the *Evidence Act 1995* (NSW), balancing the desirability of admitting relevant evidence against the need to discourage unlawful conduct by law enforcement.

The appeal was dismissed.