Donohoe v The Director of Public Prosecutions (WA)

[2011] WASCA 239

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Evidence
2. › Documentary evidence
3. › Business records
4. › Admissibility under s 79C of Evidence Act 1906 (WA)
5. › Whether printout, worksheets and certificates prepared by Chemistry Centre were business records
6. › Whether statements in documents admissible where maker not called as witness
7. › Evidence Act 1906 (WA), ss 79B, 79C
1. Evidence
2. › Documentary evidence
3. › Business records
4. › Distinction between admissibility of statements in a document and admissibility of the document itself
5. › Certificates prepared under statutory regime not business records but statements therein admissible as derived from business records
6. › Evidence Act 1906 (WA), s 79C(2a)
1. Drugs
2. › Drug trafficker declaration
3. › Nature of proceedings under s 32A of Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA)
4. › Whether proceedings civil or criminal for purposes of s 79C of Evidence Act 1906 (WA)
5. › Overlapping legislative scheme with Criminal Property Confiscation Act 2000 (WA)
6. › Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA), s 32A
7. › Criminal Property Confiscation Act 2000 (WA), s 102
1. Drugs
2. › Drug trafficker declaration
3. › Proof of weight of prohibited drug
4. › Whether ss 38, 38A, 38B and 38C of Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA) apply to proceedings under s 32A
5. › Whether 'proceedings against a person for an offence' includes s 32A proceedings
6. › Whether ss 38-38C constitute exhaustive code
7. › Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA), ss 38, 38A, 38B, 38C, 32A

Quick Take

Proceedings for a drug trafficker declaration under s 32A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1981 (WA) are civil for the purposes of s 79C of the Evidence Act 1906 (WA), with the consequence that s 79C(4) (which excludes statements made for investigation or prosecution purposes) does not apply. Sections 38-38C of the Misuse of Drugs Act do not apply to s 32A proceedings and are not an exhaustive code for proving drug weight even in criminal proceedings. Documents prepared by the Chemistry Centre (WA) in the ordinary course of its analytical work are business records under s 79B, and statements therein are admissible under s 79C(2a) without calling the maker as a witness. Certificates prepared under a statutory regime (s 38) are not themselves business records, but statements in them that reproduce or derive from business records are admissible under s 79C(2a).