The King v ZT

The High Court of Australia considered an appeal by the Crown against the majority decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal of New South Wales (CCA). The CCA had allowed an appeal against conviction by the respondent, ZT, on the ground that the verdict was unreasonable or could not be supported having regard to the evidence. The principal evidence against the respondent consisted of alleged admissions made in intercepted telephone calls and police interviews, which were played to the jury and tendered as exhibits.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the majority of the CCA erred in concluding that a reasonable doubt as to the respondent's guilt existed, without having viewed or listened to the recordings of the principal evidence. The High Court was required to determine whether the CCA, by failing to engage directly with the recorded evidence, had failed to discharge its appellate function as described in *M v The Queen* (1994) 181 CLR 487, particularly in assessing whether the jury's "natural advantages" in hearing the evidence could explain away any perceived doubt.

The High Court reasoned that an appellate court, when assessing whether a verdict is unreasonable or unsupported by evidence, must have regard to all the evidence. While acknowledging that intense scrutiny of recorded evidence by an appellate court has limited marginal utility due to the dangers of demeanour assessment, the Court emphasised that the CCA must still consider the evidence itself. The majority's failure to view or listen to the recordings meant they had not fully discharged their appellate function. The Court noted that while the prosecution was not required to prove the "reliability" of every admission, the CCA's assessment of the evidence was flawed by its omission.

The High Court allowed the appeal, set aside the orders of the CCA, and remitted the matter back to the CCA for determination according to law. This effectively restored the respondent's conviction and sentence, pending the CCA's redetermination.