Section 18(2) of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) is constitutionally valid insofar as the certified facts relate to acts of carrier employees enabling warrant execution, as such facts are too remote from elements of the offence to constitute impermissible interference with judicial power or trial by jury. However, the Court left open whether the constitutional protection of fact-finding extends beyond elements of the offence to closely connected facts. A pre-trial ruling on the constitutional validity of an evidentiary provision constitutes a 'judgment or order' within s 5F of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912, notwithstanding that rulings on evidence ordinarily do not.
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