Deliwala-Gedara v The Queen

In the matter of Deliwala-Gedara v The Queen, the appellant faced charges relating to possession of objectionable publications. The dispute centred on whether the Crown was permitted to present additional evidence, specifically reports from the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC), after the closure of their case. The application was made pursuant to section 98 of the Evidence Act. The High Court of Australia was tasked with determining the admissibility of these reports.

The central legal issue was whether the Judge correctly exercised discretion under section 98(1) of the Evidence Act to allow the Crown to introduce the OFLC reports. The appellant contested the Crown’s application, arguing against the admissibility of the reports. The court needed to assess whether the further evidence met any of the criteria specified in subsections 98(3) and 98(4) of the Act, particularly if it was relevant to a formal matter, arose out of the defence's conduct, or was necessary in the interests of justice.

The High Court found that the Judge’s decision to admit the OFLC reports was correct. The court reasoned that the reports pertained to a purely formal matter, as they confirmed the classification of the videos as objectionable, a fact the appellant did not dispute. The Judge noted that the appellant had conceded the objectionable nature of the videos through a section 9 admission. The detailed reports were deemed necessary to explain the content of the videos, which were described in the charges as depicting and promoting the exploitation of children and young persons for sexual purposes, among other things. The court concluded that the interests of justice required the admission of the OFLC reports to provide a clearer understanding of the evidence against the appellant.

The final orders of the court affirmed the decision of the trial Judge to admit the OFLC reports as evidence. The court held that the reports were relevant and necessary for the trial, thereby upholding the Judge's discretion under section 98 of the Evidence Act.