Catchwords:

Criminal practice – Appeal – Crown appeal against sentence – Procedural fairness – Where appellant provided assistance to law enforcement authorities – Where court required by statute to take assistance into account in sentencing – Where evidence of assistance kept confidential from appellant and appellant’s legal representatives in sentencing proceedings – Where evidence contained highly sensitive criminal intelligence – Where appellant sought access to confidential evidence on appeal – Where Court of Criminal Appeal denied appellant access to confidential evidence on basis of public interest immunity – Where Court of Criminal Appeal exercised discretion under s 5D(1) of Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) to re-sentence – Whether appellant denied procedural fairness – Whether Court of Criminal Appeal had power to deny appellant access to the confidential evidence – Whether Court of Criminal Appeal should have declined to exercise discretion to re‑sentence.

Words and phrases – “access to evidence”, “assistance to law enforcement authorities”, “confidential information”, “Crown appeal against sentence”, “discount in sentence”, “evidence of assistance”, “mitigating factor”, “non‑disclosure”, “open justice”, “procedural fairness”, “public interest immunity”, “residual discretion”, “tailored order”.