Vunilagi v. The Queen & Anor
Case No.
C13/2022
Case Information
Lower Court Judgment
09/11/2021 Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, Court of Appeal (Mossop, Loukas-Karlsson, Abraham JJ)
Catchwords
Constitutional law – Powers of courts – Powers of Legislative Assembly of Australian Capital Territory – Trial by jury – Where appellant arrested and committed to trial – Where, following COVID-19 outbreak, Supreme Court Act 1933 (ACT) amended by COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 (ACT) to include s 68BA which provided, relevantly, Court may order trial by judge alone – Where appellant advised Chief Justice proposed making order pursuant to s 68BA – Where appellant and first respondent opposed making of order – Where s 68BA repealed, but continued to apply to appellant by operation of s 116 and 117 of Supreme Court Act – Where Chief Justice ordered appellant's trial to proceed by judge alone – Where appellant found guilty – Whether s 68BA contravened limitation deriving from Kable v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) (1996) 198 CLR 511 – Whether s 68BA inconsistent with requirement in s 80 of Constitution that trial on indictment of any offence against law of Commonwealth be by jury.
Documents*
17/06/2022 Hearing (SLA, Canberra by video-connection)
30/06/2022 Notice of appeal
05/08/2022 Written submissions (Appellant)
05/08/2022 Chronology (Appellant)
02/09/2022 Written submissions (First Respondent)
02/09/2022 Written submissions (Second Respondent)
16/09/2022 Written submissions (Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, intervening)
16/09/2022 Written submissions (Attorney-General for the Northern Territory, intervening)
21/09/2022 Reply
08/02/2023 Hearing (Full Court, Canberra) (Audio-visual recording)
07/02/2023 Outline of oral argument (First Respondent)
08/02/2023 Outline of oral argument (Appellant)
08/02/2023 Outline of oral argument (Second Respondent)
08/02/2023 Outline of oral argument (Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, intervening)
08/02/2023 Outline of oral argument (Attorney-General for the Northern Territory, intervening)
09/02/2023 Hearing (Full Court, Canberra) (Audio-visual recording)
08/08/2023 Judgment (Judgment summary)