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Supreme Court
New South Wales
Medium Neutral Citation: R v Warwick (No.24) [2018] NSWSC 691
Hearing dates: 15 May 2018
Date of orders: 15 May 2018
Decision date: 15 May 2018
Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal
Before: Garling J
Decision: Admit Family Court of Australia file provisionally as Exh 1 in these proceedings
Catchwords: EVIDENCE – provisional relevance – Evidence Act 1995 – issue of authentication to be determined at a later stage – file admitted as an exhibit
Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995
Cases Cited: Not Applicable
Texts Cited: Not Applicable
Category: Procedural and other rulings
Parties: The Crown
Leonard John Warwick (Accused)
Representation: Counsel:
G Christofi (Crown)
A R Conolly / E Ramsay (Accused)
Solicitors:
Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown)
A R Conolly & Co (Accused)
File Number(s): 2015/222068
Publication restriction: Not to be published until further order of the Court. Non publication order lifted on 14 February 2020.
EX TEMPORE Judgment
1. The Crown seeks to tender the file of the Family Court of Australia, which is a record of the Family Court proceedings between the Accused and Ms Blanchard.
2. The documents constituting that file were produced to this Court in the course of pre-trial hearings by virtue of a request made by the Principal Registrar of this Court to the Family Court of Australia at Parramatta.
3. The Accused opposes the tender of the file at this stage and opposes it being marked as an exhibit before it is authenticated in evidence by the relevant officer of the Family Court of Australia. The Accused indicates that that may not be necessary after further consultation between his lawyer, Mr Conolly, and the Crown.
4. It seems to me that the appropriate course where formal authentication remains in issue, but where the file is plainly relevant to the Crown case, is to admit the file under s 57 of the Evidence Act 1995 provisionally and mark it as Exhibit 1. It will be necessary to return, in due course, to finalise the question of whether it should be admitted finally. I will mark the Family Court of Australia file with respect to the proceedings between Ms Andrea Blanchard and the Accused as Exhibit 1.
Orders
1. I make the following orders:
1. Admit Family Court of Australia file provisionally as Exh 1 in these proceedings. .
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Amendments
18 February 2020 - Non publication order lifted on 14 February 2020.
DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated.
Decision last updated: 18 February 2020