May v Helicopter Resources Pty Ltd; May v Cth

[2022] ACTCA 15

ACT Court of Appeal30 March 2022

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Appeal
3. › Competency of appeal
4. › Crown appeal against acquittal
5. › General appeal provision
6. › Whether general appeal provision permits prosecution appeal to Court of Appeal
7. › Whether Mastertouch principle applies to second-level appeal where legislature expressly provided for prosecution appeal at first level
8. › Supreme Court Act 1933 (ACT), s 37E
9. › Magistrates Court Act 1930 (ACT), ss 219B, 219D, 219F
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Appeal
3. › Competency of appeal
4. › Crown appeal against acquittal on appeal
5. › Whether Mastertouch principle applies where convicted person initiated appellate chain
6. › Whether acquittal on appeal is acquittal after hearing on merits by court of competent jurisdiction
7. › Supreme Court Act 1933 (ACT), s 37E
8. › Magistrates Court Act 1930 (ACT), ss 207, 208
1. Criminal Law
2. › Appeal
3. › Double jeopardy
4. › Principle of no appeal from acquittal
5. › Mastertouch principle
6. › Scope and application
7. › Whether principle extends to second-level appeals
8. › Whether principle qualified by requirement of patent error of law
1. Statutory Interpretation
2. › General words in appeal provisions
3. › Principle that statute not construed as effecting fundamental alteration of common law rights unless words clearly and unambiguously point to that conclusion
4. › Whether general appeal provision should be read down

Quick Take

The Mastertouch principle does not apply to second-level Crown appeals under s 37E of the Supreme Court Act 1933 (ACT), whether the prosecution initiated the appellate chain via a review appeal under s 219B of the Magistrates Court Act 1930 (ACT) or the defendant initiated the chain by appealing a conviction. The references by Gibbs CJ in Davern v Messel to 'patent error of law' do not establish a qualification confining second-level appeals to questions of law. The scope of review appeals under s 219B (whether confined to questions of law) was left open.