The Queen v. GW
Case No.
C13/2015
Case Information
Lower Court Judgment
15/05/2015 Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory (Court of Appeal) (Murrell CJ, Refshauge and Ross JJ)
[2015] ACTCA 15
Catchwords
Criminal law – Evidence – Unsworn statements – Where respondent was found guilty of committing acts of indecency upon or in the presence of children “R” and “H” contrary to s 61(1) of the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) – Where R gave evidence at a pre-trial hearing but was unable to give sworn evidence due to her age – Where she gave unsworn evidence pursuant to s 13 of the Evidence Act 2011(ACT) – Where evidence was admitted without a warning – Where the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction on the basis that the unsworn evidence of R should not have been admitted and the trial judge failed to direct the jury regarding the unsworn evidence of R – Whether, where witnesses give unsworn evidence pursuant to s 13 of the Evidence Act, there should be a requirement that the jury be warned that there is a difference between sworn and unsworn evidence – Whether a finding by a judge that a witness is not competent to give sworn evidence pursuant to s 13(3) of the Evidence Act requires a particular formulation of the warning.
Documents
16/10/2015 Hearing (SLA, Sydney)
27/10/2015 Notice of appeal
04/11/2015 Written submissions (Appellant)
04/11/2015 Chronology (Appellant)
18/11/2015 Written submissions (Respondent)
25/11/2015 Reply
10/12/2015 Hearing (Full Court, Canberra) (Audio-visual recording)
02/03/2016 Judgment (Judgment summary)