Court of Criminal Appeal reViews the conviction
and sentence only on the basis of the legal arguments
presented by the defendant's counsel and does not
undertake a full rehearing of the facts. According to
the author, article 14, paragraph 5, requires a full
rehearing of the facts. In this context, the author also
states that no possibility of direct appeal to the High
Court exists, but that one has to request leave to
appeal, which was refused by the Court in his case.
his right to call witnesses only through his solicitor,
not independently. According to the author, his
solicitor was accredited to the Supreme Court of
Queensland. He argues that the State party should
take responsibility for the supervision of solicitors
accredited to the courts, to see whether they comply
with their obligations under the law. The author
further contends that the signed interview with
Jensen, referred to by the State party, was obtained
under the influence of drugs, and that this would
have been revealed if he would have been called as a
witness, especially because the evidence that the
author was not involved in any drug deal was
corroborated by other witnesses.
5.6 As regards the State party's claim that he has
not exhausted domestic remedies with regard to his
complaint about police treatment, the author submits
that, in fact, he has addressed complaints to the
Police Complaints Tribunal, the Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission and the Parliamentary Ombudsman, all to no avail.
5.2 The author reiterates that the racist attitude of
the police, resulting in violence and in fabrication of
the evidence against him, led to his conviction for an
offence of which he had no knowledge. He submits
that the evidence against him was wholly
circumstantial, except for the alleged admissions to
the police, which were fabricated. He claims that the
failure of the judge to rule the admissions
inadmissible as evidence constitutes a denial of
justice, in violation of article 14, paragraph 1; in this
context, he submits that the judge did not admit
evidence on behalf of the defence from a solicitor
who had visited the author at the police station and
who had seen that the author was upset and crying,
allegedly as a result of the treatment he received from
the policemen. The author also contends that there
were inconsistencies in the evidence against him, that
some of the prosecution witnesses were not reliable,
and that the evidence was insufficient to warrant a
conviction. In this context, the author points out that
he was acquitted on two other charges, where the
evidence was purely circumstantial, and that his
conviction on the one charge apparently was based on
the evidence that he had admitted his involvement to
the policemen upon arrest.
Issues and proceedings before the Committee
6.1 Before considering any claim contained in a
communication, the Human Rights Committee must,
in accordance with rule 87 of its rules of procedure,
decide whether or not it is admissible under the
Optional Protocol to the Covenant.
6.2 The Committee observes that the author's
allegations relate partly to the evaluation of evidence
by the court. It recalls that it is generally for the
appellate courts of States parties to the Covenant, and
not for the Committee, to evaluate the facts and
evidence in a particular case, unless it is clear that a
denial of justice has occurred or that the court violated
its obligation of impartiality. The author's allegations
and submissions do not show that the trial against him
suffered from such defects. In this respect, therefore,
the author's claims do not come within the
competence of the Committee. Accordingly, this part
of the communication is inadmissible as incompatible
with the provisions of the Covenant, under article 3 of
the Optional Protocol.
5.3 The author further submits that it is apparent
from the trial transcript that he had difficulties
understanding the English that was used in court. He
claims that, as a result, he misunderstood some of
the questions put to him. He claims that his solicitor
never informed him that he had the right to have an
interpreter and that, moreover, it was the trial judge's
duty to ensure that the trial was conducted fairly and,
consequently, to call an interpreter as soon as he
noticed that the author's English was insufficient.
6.3 As regards the author's complaint that Jensen
was not called as a witness during the trial, the
Committee notes that the author's defence lawyer,
who was privately retained, was free to call him but,
in the exercise of his professional judgement, chose
not to do so. The Committee considers that the State
party cannot be held accountable for alleged errors
made by a defence lawyer, unless it was or should
have been manifest to the judge that the lawyer's
behaviour was incompatible with the interests of
justice. In the instant case, there is no reason to
believe that counsel was not using his best judgement,
and this part of the communication is therefore
inadmissible under article 2 of the Optional Protocol.
5.4 The author further notes that one of the appeal
judges who heard his appeal after the first trial also
participated in the consideration of his appeal after
the retrial. He claims that this shows that the Court
of Criminal Appeal was not impartial, in violation of
article 14, paragraph 1.
6.4 With regard to the author's complaint about the
review of his conviction, the Committee notes from
the judgement of the Court of Criminal Appeal, dated
4 July 1986, that the Court did evaluate the evidence
5.5 The author maintains that article 14,
paragraph 5, was violated in his case, because the
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