Kentwell v The Queen [2014] HCA 37; O’Grady v The Queen [2014] HCA 38

ON 9 OCTOBER 2014, the High Court of Australia delivered Kentwell v The Queen and O’Grady v The Queen.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2014/37.html

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2014/38.html

NSW Court of Criminal Appeal had refused two applications for extension of time to appeal against sentences by applying the test used in Abdul v The Queen which requires the court to ask whether or not a refusal would cause a substantial miscarriage of justice by the sentence.

The High Court allowed appeals against the dismissals, holding that Abdul was wrongly decided as it confined the use of the court’s discretion. The High Court held that the Court of Criminal Appeal has a wide discretion that is to be exercised by consideration of what the interests of justice require in the particular case rather than whether or not a refusal would cause a substantial miscarriage of justice.