Dr Q
Court or Tribunal: Federal Circuit Court of Australia
Catchwords: Evidence, Recorded conversations
Judges: Judge Sexton
Background: Corby and Corby regarded the use of four non-consensual audio recordings between the parties as evidence in a custody hearing. The applicant, the mother in the estranged partnership, contended that the respondent was sexually coercive, intimidating and physically violent during their relationship.
[Legal Issue]The question before Sexton J was whether the applicant had a lawful interest under section 7(3)(b)(i) of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW).137 Her Honour decided that the applicant had a lawful interest in protecting herself from intimidation, harassment and sexual coercion.138 Moreover, the recordings were reasonably necessary because, similarly to R v Coutts, it may not have been a realistic option to report her predicament to the police139 and the recordings were important evidence as they demonstrated the difference between the public and private ‘faces’ of the respondent.140 Further, and similarly to other cases, Sexton J observed that even if she had been unable to find that the mother had a lawful interest in ma
[Court Orders](1) The audio recordings between the parties made by the Mother on 25 March, 24 June and 8 July 2012 be marked Exhibit 4.
(2) The Mother’s solicitor email the audio recordings (admitted and marked Exhibit 4) to the Father's new solicitor by the close of business on Tuesday 21 April 2015.
(3) The Mother’s solicitor save the audio recordings onto a USB flashdrive and present the flashdrive to the Exhibits counter at the Sydney Registry by no later than 4.00p.m on Friday 24 April 2015.
Catchwords: Evidence, Recorded conversations
Judges: Judge Sexton
Background: Corby and Corby regarded the use of four non-consensual audio recordings between the parties as evidence in a custody hearing. The applicant, the mother in the estranged partnership, contended that the respondent was sexually coercive, intimidating and physically violent during their relationship.
[Legal Issue]The question before Sexton J was whether the applicant had a lawful interest under section 7(3)(b)(i) of the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW).137 Her Honour decided that the applicant had a lawful interest in protecting herself from intimidation, harassment and sexual coercion.138 Moreover, the recordings were reasonably necessary because, similarly to R v Coutts, it may not have been a realistic option to report her predicament to the police139 and the recordings were important evidence as they demonstrated the difference between the public and private ‘faces’ of the respondent.140 Further, and similarly to other cases, Sexton J observed that even if she had been unable to find that the mother had a lawful interest in ma
[Court Orders](1) The audio recordings between the parties made by the Mother on 25 March, 24 June and 8 July 2012 be marked Exhibit 4.
(2) The Mother’s solicitor email the audio recordings (admitted and marked Exhibit 4) to the Father's new solicitor by the close of business on Tuesday 21 April 2015.
(3) The Mother’s solicitor save the audio recordings onto a USB flashdrive and present the flashdrive to the Exhibits counter at the Sydney Registry by no later than 4.00p.m on Friday 24 April 2015.