R v Van Den Bemd [1994] HCA 56

High Court of Australia Mason C.J. Brennan, Deane, Dawson, Toohey, Gaudron and McHugh JJ. R v Van Den Bemd [1994] HCA 56

ORDER Application for special leave to appeal refused.

Cur. adv vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

1994, March 2 Mason C.J., Deane, Dawson, Toohey and Gaudron JJ.

This is an application by the Crown for special leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Queensland quashing the respondent's conviction on a charge of unlawful killing and ordering that there be a new trial on that charge. It is well established that special leave should be granted to the Crown in such a case only in very exceptional circumstances [1] .

1. R. v Lee (1950), 82 C.L.R. 133; Reg. v Benz (1989), 168 C.L.R. 110.

The outcome of the case depends upon the application and interpretation of the words "an event which occurs by accident" in the context of s. 23 of The Criminal Code Q. That question is essentially one of statutory construction, the answer to which does not depend upon an important point of principle. As Dixon C.J. observed in Vallance v The Queen [2] , with reference to s. 13 of The Criminal Code Tas (a provision comparable to s. 23):

[I]t is only by specific solutions of particular difficulties raised by the precise facts of given cases that the operation of such provisions as s. 13 can be worked out judicially. 1. (1961) 108 C.L.R. 56, at p. 61; see also Kaporonovski v The Queen (1973), 133 C.L.R. 209, at p. 220, per Walsh J. ("each case presents a different problem").

The words of the section are inherently susceptible of bearing the meaning placed upon them by the Court of Appeal of Queensland. The interpretation given to the section by that Court is one which favours the individual and reflects accepted notions of culpability and responsibility for criminal conduct. Moreover, it is an interpretation which derives support from comments made in some judgments of this Court, particularly Gibbs J. (with whom Stephen J. agreed) in Kaporonovski v The Queen [3] .