Regina v Richard Lipton [2011] NSWCCA 247

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Regina v Richard Lipton [2011] NSWCCA 247 Hearing dates: 10 March 2011 Decision date: 17 November 2011 Before: McColl JA at [1], RS Hulme J at [122], Hislop J at [126] Decision: Appeal dismissed Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - Appeal - where accused pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying large quantity of prohibited drug - where accused sought to ascertain role of third party in relation to his involvement in the offences to which he had pleaded guilty - where police informed Director of Public Prosecutions they held information "which might reasonably be expected to assist in the case for the prosecution or the case for the accused person" but that that material was subject to a bona fide claim of privilege, public interest immunity or statutory immunity - whether s 15A Director of Public Prosecutors Act 1986 obliged police to produce that information to Director of Public Prosecutions -

CRIMINAL LAW - prosecutor's duty to act fairly - duty of disclosure - whether prosecutor should disclose to accused existence of material possibly relevant to accused's defence but subject to claim of public interest immunity -

CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - stay of sentencing proceedings - prosecutor's duty of disclosure - whether sentencing proceedings should be stayed until DPP obtains from police information in relation to third party's role in his involvement in the offences to which he had pleaded guilty - avoidance of potential miscarriage of justice -

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION -whether permissible to use subordinate legislation to construe statute -

WORDS AND PHRASES - "disclose" Legislation Cited: Criminal Appeal Act 1912 Criminal Case Conferencing Trial Act 2008 Criminal Procedure Act 1986 Criminal Procedure Amendment (Case Management) Act 2009 Criminal Procedure Amendment (Pre-Trial Disclosure) Act 2001 Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1986 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 Evidence Act 1995 Interpretation Act 1987