Australia's highest court has allowed an appeal against the downgrading of wife-killer Gerard Baden-Clay's conviction to manslaughter, reinstating his murder conviction.
The five-judge High Court bench handed down its decision to reinstate the murder conviction for the former Brisbane real estate agent over the death of his wife Allison in 2012, in the final ruling on the case.
The decision was handed down in Canberra just after 10.15am today.
Ms Baden-Clay's friend Kerry Anne Walker is expected to read a statement on behalf of the family in response to the decision shortly.
Last December, Baden-Clay's original murder charge for killing his wife was substituted with manslaughter on appeal.
The Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions then made a bid to have the case considered by the nation's highest court, and prosecutors argued Baden-Clay had a strong motive for murder.
About a month ago, arguments for and against the conviction downgrading were heard in Brisbane, including submissions by the Crown that Baden-Clay's conduct after his wife's death was "not only calculated but cold-blooded".
The High Court had three options – to dismiss the appeal, to allow the appeal and reinstate his murder conviction, or to order a re-trial, the latter of which was considered unlikely.
Earlier, Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said the High Court should be applauded for arriving at its decision months earlier than anticipated.
"The fact the decision is being made so quickly indicates the court was prepared to deal with what was a narrow argument in a timely way to ensure that Mr Baden-Clay learns his fate quickly," he said.
"It is not a matter of winners and losers here but rather a complex legal question that is being clarified, not merely for Queensland but for all Australia."
At the July hearing, defence barrister Michael Byrne said the case did not involve pre-existing violence or threats, and claimed Baden-Clay's financial woes and extra-marital affair were merely pressures and not motives.
Mr Byrne was subjected to rigorous questioning from the bench about how the scenario of an accidental death remained open despite Baden-Clay's own evidence at his trial directly contradicting it.
Ms Baden-Clay's body was found on a creek bank in April 2012, 10 days after her husband reported her missing from their Brookfield home.
With AAP.