The Queen v Lavender

Criminal law – Manslaughter – Involuntary manslaughter by criminal negligence – Respondent killed a 13 year old boy by running over him with a front end loader – Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 18 – Whether malice an element of the offence – Relevance of former statutory requirement that indictment include a charge of maliciously killing for murder but not for manslaughter – Interaction of provisions of the Crimes Act with the common law of punishable homicide – Application of the defence of honest and reasonable mistake of fact to manslaughter by criminal negligence – Distinction between murder and manslaughter.

Statutes – Interpretation – Relevance of historical context in resolving questions of statutory construction – Relevance of past amendments to Act – Use of contemporary historical materials in statutory construction – Relevance of the rule of strict construction of penal statutes – Relevance of uniformity in the criminal law throughout Australia.

Sentencing – Appeal on sentence – Whether matter before the High Court – Restoration of custodial sentence after entry of an acquittal by New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal – Whether parties now entitled to seek leave of Court of Criminal Appeal to appeal against sentence.

Practice and procedure – Trials – Jury directions.

Words and phrases – "malice", "maliciously".

Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) – ss 5, 18.