Where a lawyer who is a police informer provides subsidiary collateral legal advice to an accused but does not appear as counsel at trial, and the accused is represented by independent senior counsel, the informer's breaches of duties of loyalty and confidentiality will not establish a substantial miscarriage of justice unless it is shown that the advice may have affected the result of the trial. The phrase 'issues in dispute at the trial of the offence' in s 326C(3)(b)(iii)(A) of the CPA extends to whether the applicant received a fair trial according to law, not merely the factual issues at trial. Non-disclosure of a lawyer's informer status does not of itself establish a miscarriage of justice; the applicant must show the non-disclosure had the capacity to affect the result.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 25 later cases that cite this judgment.
16 of the 25 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.