Today, the High Court declined to overturn or revise the test to prove Extended Joint Criminal Enterprise, after considering the history and basis of the doctrine.

For centuries, the law has allowed other people to be convicted of a crime that has been physically committed by another person. This is called Extended Joint Criminal Enterprise.

Today in Miller v The Queen; Smith v The Queen; Presley v Director of Public Prosecutions for the State of South Australia [2016] HCA 30, the High Court today could have followed a path taken by the UK Supreme Court in February, which ruled that the principle was in some respects a mistaken reading of previous law (R v Jogee [2016] 2 WLR 68). However the High Court declined and  the law in Australia will continue to remain as stated in the case of McAuliffe. That is, a person can be guilty of a more serious crime if they ‘foresee the possibility’ of it occurring whilst committing of a lesser severity.

Photo by Tourism Australia