Commonwealth v Helicopter Resources Pty Ltd

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAKIEFEL CJ,BELL, GAGELER, KEANE, NETTLE, GORDON AND EDELMAN JJCOMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA  APPELLANTANDHELICOPTER RESOURCES PTY LTD & ORS                 RESPONDENTSCommonwealth of Australia v Helicopter Resources Pty Ltd[2020] HCA 16Date of Hearing: 10 October 2019 & 5 February 2020Date of Judgment: 24 April 2020S217/2019ORDER1.The first respondent's application for leave to file a notice of contention is refused. 2.Appeal allowed. 3.Set aside orders 1 and 2(a) of the orders of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia made on 15 February 2019 and, in their place, order that the appeal to the Full Court be dismissed. 4.The appellant pay the first respondent's reasonable costs on a solicitor/client basis. On appeal from the Federal Court of AustraliaRepresentationS P Donaghue QC, Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth, with T M Begbie and J D Watson for the appellant (instructed by Australian Government Solicitor)J T Gleeson SC with T J Brennan and K I H Lindeman for the first respondent (instructed by Norton White)Submitting appearances for the second and third respondentsNotice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSCommonwealth of Australia v Helicopter Resources Pty LtdCriminal practice – Accusatorial system of criminal justice – Companion rule – Where subpoena issued for employee to attend to give evidence at coronial inquest into manner and cause of another employee's death – Where employer and Commonwealth of Australia prosecuted for alleged failures to comply with duty to ensure worker health and safety – Where...