Thompson v The Queen

This matter comes before the High Court of Australia on an application for special leave to appeal by Allen Douglas Thompson against a decision of the Federal Court. Thompson, represented by Mr. B.J. Salmon, QC, and Mr. K. Crispin, QC, sought to challenge the Federal Court's determination concerning the jurisdiction of the trial court. The respondent, the Queen, was represented by Mr. M.S. Weinberg, QC, Mr. T.J. Higgins, QC, and Mr. J. Sabharwal.

The central legal issue before the High Court was the onus of proof in criminal proceedings when the question of where a crime was committed, specifically whether it occurred within the jurisdiction of the trial court, is raised by the evidence. Thompson's submission argued that the Federal Court failed to properly apply the principles established in *Morris v R*, which requires the court to examine the evidence itself and determine if a jury could be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt on the issue of jurisdiction.

Mr. Salmon submitted that the Federal Court's decision was not guided by *Morris v R*. He contended that while the Federal Court acknowledged the argument that the verdicts were unsafe and unsatisfactory due to insufficient evidence of jurisdiction, it did not undertake the necessary examination of the evidence to determine if the jury could have been satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the acts and deaths occurred within the Australian Capital Territory. The applicant argued that this failure to assess the evidence on jurisdiction was a critical error.