Will v Brighton [2020] NSWCA 355

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Will v Brighton [2020] NSWCA 355 Hearing dates: 08 December 2020 Date of orders: 23 December 2020 Decision date: 23 December 2020 Before: Bell P at [1]; Basten JA at [109]; Simpson AJA at [127] Decision: The parties are directed to file any written submissions, not exceeding 5 pages, as to the appropriateness of orders being made in the form of those set out in paragraph [107] below by 4.00pm on Wednesday 3 February 2021 with any reply submissions by 4.00pm on 5 February 2021, such submissions also to the question of costs in light of the substantive reasons contained in the judgments of the Court. Catchwords: ANIMALS - Cruelty to animals – consideration of the element of "intention of inflicting severe pain" in s 530(1) of Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) - defences to offence of serious cruelty to animals under s 530(2) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) – meaning of "pest animals" – meaning of "in the course of or for the purposes of extermination of pest animals" – whether animal killed was a "pest animal" within the meaning of s 530(2) of the Crimes Act – whether killing of animal was "in the course of or for the purposes of extermination of pest animals" – statutory context – context includes other legislation addressing cruelty to animals CRIMINAL LAW – cruelty to animals – offence of serious cruelty to animals – elements of offence - consideration of the element of "intention of inflicting severe pain" in s 530(1) of Crimes Act - statutory defence – whether animal killed was a "pest animal" within the meaning of s 530(2) of the Crimes Act – whether killing of animal was "in the course of or for the purposes of extermination of pest animals" STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – where provision in question one of a number of provisions in various statutes concerned with prevention of cruelty to animals – other statutes forming part of the statutory context – consideration of the use of dictionaries in statutory interpretation WORDS AND PHRASES – "pest animal" – "extermination" – "in the course of or for the purposes of extermination of pest animals" Legislation Cited: Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (New South Wales) Act 1994 (NSW) s 5 Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act 1994 (Cth) sch 1, s 3 Animal Research Act 1985 (NSW) ss 46–48 Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW) ss 15(1), 55, 389 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) s 58 Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW) ss 5, 15, 22, 33 Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) s 52, s 53(1) Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) ss 530, 531 Crimes Amendment (Animal Cruelty) Act 2005 (NSW) Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 5.2(3), sch 1 Exhibited Animals Protection Act 1986 (NSW) Greyhound Racing Act 2017 (NSW) pt 4 Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) ss 8(c), 33, 34(3) Local Land Services Act 2013 (NSW) Pesticides Act 1999 (NSW) Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (NSW) ss 4(3), 5(3), 6, 24, pt 2 Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW) s 101(2)(h) Veterinary Practice Act 2003 (NSW) Exhibited Animals Protection Regulation 2010 (NSW) Pesticides Regulation 2017 (NSW) Veterinary Practice Regulation 2013 (NSW) sch 2 Local Land Services (Wild Dogs) Pest Control Order 2015 (NSW) Cases Cited: 2 Elizabeth Bay Road Pty Ltd v The Owners - Strata Plan No 73943 (2014) 88 NSWLR 488; [2014] NSWCA 409 Be Financial Pty Ltd as Trustee for Be Financial Operations Trust v Das [2012] NSWCA 164 Cabell v Markham 148 F 2d 737 at 739 (2nd Cir 1945) Cheryala v Minister for Immigration & Border Protection (2018) 260 FCR 169; [2018] FCAFC 43 Collector of Customs v Agfa-Gevaert Ltd (1996) 186 CLR 389; [1996] HCA 36 Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Dick (2007) 226 FLR 388; [2007] NSWCA 190 Dickson v Northern Lakes Rugby League Sport & Recreation Club Inc [2020] NSWCA 294 El-Haddad v The Queen (2015) 88 NSWLR 93; [2015] NSWCCA 10 Federal Commissioner of Taxation v BHP Billiton Ltd (2011) 244 CLR 325; [2011] HCA 17 House of Peace Pty Ltd v Bankstown City Council (2000) 48 NSWLR 498; [2000] NSWCA 44 Kelly v The Queen (2004) 218 CLR 216; [2004] HCA 12 Life Insurance Co of Australia Ltd v Phillips (1925) 36 CLR 60; [1925] HCA 18 Lorimer v Smail (1911) 12 CLR 504; [1911] HCA 44 Provincial Insurance Australia Pty Ltd v Consolidated Wood Products Pty Ltd (1991) 25 NSWLR 541 R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2018] AC 61 R v Brown [1996] 1 AC 543 R v Loxdale (1758) 1 Burr 445 Residual Assco Group Ltd v Spalvins (2000) 202 CLR 629; [2000] HCA 33 Roads and Maritime Services v United Petroleum Pty Ltd (2019) 99 NSWLR 279; [2019] NSWCA 41 SAS Trustee Corporation v Miles (2018) 265 CLR 137; [2018] HCA 55 Smalley v Motor Accidents Authority of New South Wales (2013) 85 NSWLR 580; [2013] NSWCA 318 South Western Sydney Local Health District v Gould (2018) 97 NSWLR 513; [2018] NSWCA 69 Sweeney v Fitzhardinge (1906) 4 CLR 716; [1906] HCA 73 SZTAL v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2017) 262 CLR 362; [2017] HCA 34 Thiess v Collector of Customs (2014) 250 CLR 664; [2014] HCA 12 Vanstone v Clark (2005) 147 FCR 299; [2005] FCAFC 189 Zaburoni v The Queen (2016) 256 CLR 482; [2016] HCA 12 Texts Cited: A Scalia and B Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts (Thomson/West, 2012) D C Pearce, Statutory Interpretation in Australia (9th ed, LexisNexis, 2019) Lord McMillan, Law & Other Things (Cambridge University Press, 1937) P Herzfeld and T Prince, Interpretation (2nd ed, Thomson Reuters, 2020) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Natalie Will (Applicant) Daniel Brighton (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: