''Ryan v The Queen'' (abbreviated to ''Ryan v R'') is a seminal case in

Australian criminal law The criminal law of Australia is the body of law in Australia that relates to crime. Responsibility for criminal law in Australia is divided between the state and territory parliaments and the Commonwealth Parliament. This division is due to ...

. The case is an application to the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

for special

leave to appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

a conviction for

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

. It is often cited in cases of

felony murder The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder: when someone is killed (regardless of intent to kill) in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime (called a felony in so ...

(referred to as constructive murder in Australian law) and when the issue of

voluntariness In law and philosophy, voluntariness is a choice being made of a person's free will, as opposed to being made as the result of coercion or duress. Philosophies such as libertarianism and voluntaryism, as well as many legal systems, hold that a con ...

is in question.

Facts

On March 10, 1965, Robert Patrick Ryan and his accomplice, Mr White, committed an armed robbery of a service station in Carramar, New South Wales. White would act as the getaway using a motorcycle, while Ryan would carry out the robbery proper using a sawn-off rifle. Mimicking a book he had read, Ryan planned to tie the service attendant up before absconding. While tying up the service attendant, Noel Francis Taylor, the rifle discharged, a bullet penetrated Taylor's neck and caused Taylor's death. Ryan claimed the discharged of the rifle was accidental and that he was culpable for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

, not murder. Under the doctrine of

common purpose The doctrine of common purpose, common design, joint enterprise, joint criminal enterprise or parasitic accessory liability is a common law legal doctrine that imputes criminal liability to the participants in a criminal enterprise for all reas ...

, White was also liable for Taylor's death, but was offered and accepted a plea of guilty of manslaughter. Ryan's manslaughter plea was refused by the prosecution and he was convicted of murder at trial. At the time, murder in New South Wales carried a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment with the harshest sentence being

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

. Ryan received the former.

Judgement

Under New South Wales law, a conviction of murder requires that the death of the victim be caused by a voluntary action of the accused, that is to say a willful and deliberate action, and that the action be done with malice. Generally, the law will not hold people accountable for involuntary actions such as spasms, sneezes or twitches. While Ryan claimed that the pulling of the rifle trigger was an involuntary action and there was no way for the prosecution to prove otherwise, the actions that lead up to the discharge were voluntary: loading the gun, presenting it to menace the attendant, and pointing it at the victims neck. New South Wales follows a modified version of the felony murder rule, wherein the prosecution does not need to prove malice to convict for murder if the death is caused "in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him, of a crime punishable by death or penal servitude for life."''Crimes Act'' ''1900'' (NSW) s 18(1)(a) Since Ryan's actions and Taylor's death occurred during and as the result of an armed robbery, which at the time was punishable with life imprisonment, the felony murder rule applied. The High Court unanimously ruled that Ryan's application for special leave be refused. Subsequently, his conviction for murder and life sentence were upheld.

References

{{Reflist Australian criminal law 1967 in case law High Court of Australia cases 1967 in Australia

Facts

Judgement

See also

References