Parker v R [1912] HCA 29; (1912) 14 CLR 681 (23 May 1912)

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Parker Appellant; and The King Respondent.

H C of A

On appeal from the Supreme Court of Victoria.

23 May 1912

Griffith C.J., Barton and Isaacs JJ.

Bryant, for the appellant.

Griffith C.J.

We think that leave must be refused. We are asked to allow the point to be argued whether, when evidence of finger prints is the only evidence of identity, it is sufficient to support a conviction. Leave is asked in the hope that the rule may be laid down that it is not. Signatures have been accepted as evidence of identity as long as they have been used. The fact of the individuality of the corrugations of the skin on the fingers of the human hand is now so generally recognized as to require very little, if any, evidence of it, although it seems to be still the practice to offer some expert evidence on the point. A finger print is therefore in reality an unforgeable signature. That is now recognized in a large part of the world, and in some parts has, I think, been recognized for many centuries. It is certainly now generally recognized in England and other parts of the British Dominions. If that is so, there is in this case evidence that the prisoner's signature was found in the place which was broken into, and was found under such circumstances that it could only have been impressed at the time when the crime was committed. It is impossible under those circumstances to say there was no evidence to go to the jury.

Special leave refused.

Solicitor, for the appellant, Sonenberg.