Plea bargains in Australia are not ordinary contracts and cannot be enforced as such, but they are of central importance to the question of whether reinstating withdrawn charges constitutes an abuse of process. A plea agreement that requires a defendant to plead guilty does not, without express terms, preclude the defendant from subsequently challenging the resulting convictions. The Crown's entitlement to resile from a plea bargain by reinstating withdrawn charges is not automatic upon the defendant's successful appeal against convictions entered pursuant to the bargain.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 1 later case that cites this judgment.