Industrial Court Of Queensland Case Summary

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Part 1: Appeal to the Industrial Court of Queensland Prosecution counsel submissions: 1. Pursuant to section 561 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (the Act), the Prosecution counsel seeks an appeal to the Industrial Court of Queensland, from the decision of the Industrial Magistrates Court given on 11/10/2017. 2. The grounds of appeal are: - The learned Industrial Magistrate erred in concluding there was no case to answer in respect to an offence under subsection 534(2) of the Act - The learned Industrial Magistrate erred in encouraging the defence counsel to put forward a no case submission - The learned Industrial Magistrate erred in not providing reasoning for the decision. Particulars Ground 1: The learned …show more content…

Whilst the evidence is unable to directly prove the elements, it is capable of enabling its existence to be inferred beyond reasonable doubt. It is argued that when assessing the evidence of the prosecution, the learned Magistrate did not consider the evidence ‘at its highest’ and ‘without regard to… explanations… consistent to the defendant’s innocence. Even if the evidence was thought to be ‘tenuous or inherently weak or vague’ or so ‘contradictory that the [learned Magistrate] would not have been able to, at that stage make any finding of fact in favour of the Prosecution – as there was some evidence which supported the prosecution case, [the Magistrate] should have in law, convicted that the trial proceed. It is reasonably assumed that, following the evidence in chief of the prosecution, a person of ordinary fairness and reason could be satisfied on the balance of probabilities and beyond reasonable doubt that the evidence presented inferred guilt of the requisite …show more content…

Ground 2: The learned Industrial Magistrate erred in encouraging the defence counsel to put forward a no case submission The prosecution submits that the learned Magistrate encouraged the defence council to adopt a no case submission which, in light of the facts, miscarried the trial. Trials must appear to be impartial and fair, it is argued that the Magistrate undermined this fundamental principle by stating to the defence ‘[n]aturally, I envisage that you want to make a submission on a no case to answer’, which when the defence had not made any commentary to this effect prior, suggested the Magistrate deemed there to be no merit in the prosecution case and the accused be acquitted. Whilst there may be entitlement for a Magistrate to intervene when a counsel is deemed inept, there was nothing to suggest that the defence was incompetent, and as earlier submitted, there was remarkable prima facie evidence to infer the accused had committed an offence under subsection 532(2) of the Act. The prosecution therefore contends that there was a remarkable level of intervention and bias toward the defence resulting in an unfair trial and miscarriage of

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