Stays
Stays are judicial orders to stop proceedings, the Court declines to adjudicate the issue and so the matter is held in abeyance. Stays may be temporary or permanent. But permanent stays are only ordered in extreme circumstances (Jago v District Court of New South Wales (1989) 168 CLR 23.) In Jago the court cited Barton in saying that stays may be granted where there is a fundamental defect that goes to the root of the trial 'of such a nature that nothing that a trial judge can do in the conduct of the trial can relieve against its unfair consequences.' Even permanent stays are not equivalent to an aquittal. A permanent stay can theoretically be lifted and the prosecution reactivated if the reason for the stay was remedied or new evidence came to light.
Stays may be ordered for many reasons, including where continuuing the prosecution may amount to an abuse of process or where the proceedings will inevitably be unfair. By awarding a stay the court is preventing misuse of its procedure in a way which would 'be manifestly unfair to a party to litigation before it, or would otherwise bring the administration of justice into disrepute among right thinking people.' (Walton v Gardiner (1993) 177 CLR 378 at 393 citing an earlier English decision.)
For an easy to understand explanation of stays and their use in Australia see: Chris Corns, 'Judicial Termination of Defective Criminal Prosecutions: Stay Applications' (1997) 16 University of Tasmania Law Review 75.
Stays may be ordered for many reasons, including where continuuing the prosecution may amount to an abuse of process or where the proceedings will inevitably be unfair. By awarding a stay the court is preventing misuse of its procedure in a way which would 'be manifestly unfair to a party to litigation before it, or would otherwise bring the administration of justice into disrepute among right thinking people.' (Walton v Gardiner (1993) 177 CLR 378 at 393 citing an earlier English decision.)
For an easy to understand explanation of stays and their use in Australia see: Chris Corns, 'Judicial Termination of Defective Criminal Prosecutions: Stay Applications' (1997) 16 University of Tasmania Law Review 75.