Date: 2 November 2020
Court: Supreme Court of Queensland
Judicial Officer: Jackson J
Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) Sections: s 31
Rights Considered: Right to a fair hearing
Other Legislation: Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) ss 323, 339, 349, 350, 351, 355; Criminal Code 1913 (WA) ss 325, 338B; Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld) Part 2 Division 3
Keywords: Criminal Law and Corrective Services 

The Attorney-General applied for a supervision order pursuant to ss 13(5)(b) and 16 of the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld) in relation to the respondent, who was convicted of serious sexual offences. The court noted the respondent’s right to a fair hearing (s 31 of the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld)) when considering the appellant’s submissions, which were not considered further.

The respondent, Lawrence Haynes, was serving a 12 year prison sentence for convictions of rape, assault occasioning bodily harm and deprivation of liberty in relation to an incident that took place in January 2006. Mr Haynes also had previous convictions for a number of serious sexual offences, and had been in prison ‘for all but approximately one of the last 19 years’: at page 2, line 5.

As Mr Haynes was due to be released from custody, the Attorney-General applied for a supervision order pursuant to ss 13(5)(b) and 16 of the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld). The Attorney-General tendered ‘thousands of pages of physical documents’ in support of the application: at page 4, line 39. Jackson J stated that such a large number of submissions hindered the process of hearing the application. Further, His Honour noted that there is ‘a requirement of a fair hearing for a respondent … provided for by section 31 of the Human Rights Act 2019’ even if the proceeding occurred in the civil jurisdiction: at page 6, line 22 - 33.

Despite the Court’s concerns about the overall quality of the evidence adduced by the Attorney-General, it was satisfied that Mr Haynes posed a serious danger to the community, given his pattern of offending and lack of progress with rehabilitation. The Court ordered that Mr Haynes be released from custody and from that time be subject to the requirements of the supervision order for a period of five years. His Honour also made various changes to the proposed draft supervision order.

Visit the judgement:  Attorney-General for the State of Queensland v Haynes [2020] QSC 348