The High Court to consider George Pell’s request for final appeal

The High Court to consider George Pell’s request for final appeal
Image: George Pell attending court in Melbourne. File photo.

The High Court of Australia has granted jailed Cardinal George Pell’s legal team’s request to have his conviction on child sexual abuse offences referred to a Full Bench of the High Court to determine whether, based on the evidence, an appeal can be heard.

The appeal application, lodged in September, claimed: “There did not remain a reasonable doubt as to the existence of any opportunity for the offending to have occurred.”

Pell’s lawyers will now be able to argue for a formal appeal.

Pell was found guilty in February by a jury of the rape of a 13-year-old choirboy and the sexual assault of another in 1996.

The complainant spoke to police in 2015, while the other victim has died. Pell has already appealed once, in Victoria — the Victorian Court of Appeal upheld the jury verdict in August 2019 by a ruling of 2-1.

The case against Pell relied on the testimony of the former choirboy; the cornerstone of Pell’s legal teams appeal is the question of whether the evidence of a complainant can eliminate all reasonable doubt raised by other witnesses.

This is the 78-year-old’s last opportunity to have the conviction overturned.

Currently serving a six-year jail sentence, Pell has been granted special leave to challenge the conviction and his legal team informed him of the High Court’s decision.

Under the current terms of this sentence, Pell must serve a minimum of three years and eight months in jail, of which he has already served eight months.

A date for the appeal hearing has yet to be set and will likely be in early 2020.

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2 responses to “The High Court to consider George Pell’s request for final appeal”

  1. Can you imagine the outcry from Pell’s supporters, the Roman Catholic Church, it is not the “Catholic Church,” et al, if this request had not been approved? They would have screamed “Religious bias”, “Anti-Roman Catholic Discrimination”, “religious Persecution” and any other nonsense they could think up.
    Pell’s lawyers now have been given permission to lodge an appeal at the High Court. Only time will tell if this appeal is upheld or denied.

  2. No it hasnt. the issue has been referred to a Full Bench of the High Court to determine based on the evidence to be relied on in the appeal. Thats quite different to the assertion that he has been granted leave