Pell v The Queen

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAKIEFEL CJ,BELL, GAGELER, KEANE, NETTLE, GORDON AND EDELMAN JJGEORGE PELL  APPLICANTANDTHE QUEEN  RESPONDENTPell v The Queen[2020] HCA 12Date of Hearing: 11 & 12 March 2020Date of Judgment: 7 April 2020M112/2019ORDER1.Special leave to appeal granted.  2.Appeal treated as instituted and heard instanter and allowed. 3.Set aside order 2 of the orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria made on 21 August 2019 and, in its place, order that:(a)the appeal be allowed; and(b)the appellant's convictions be quashed and judgments of acquittal be entered in their place.On appeal from the Supreme Court of VictoriaRepresentationB W Walker SC with R B Shann for the applicant (instructed by Galbally & O'Bryan)K E Judd QC with M J Gibson QC and A S Ellis for the respondent (instructed by Office of Public Prosecutions Victoria)Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSPell v The QueenCriminal law – Sexual offences against children – Appeal against conviction by jury on ground that verdict unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to whole of evidence – Where prosecution case wholly dependent upon acceptance of truthfulness and reliability of complainant's account – Where jury assessed complainant's evidence as credible and reliable – Where witnesses gave unchallenged evidence of specific recollections, practices and routines inconsistent with acceptance of complainant's account ("unchallenged inconsistent evidence") – Where Court of Appeal required to take into account forensic disadvantage experienced by applicant – Whether...