Section 137 of the Evidence Act 1995 requires a purely evaluative process confined to the relative probative value and danger of unfair prejudice of the proposed evidence; the public interest in the conviction of those who commit crimes is an irrelevant consideration and must not be taken into account. The common law discretion to exclude unlawfully obtained evidence (which does permit consideration of competing public interests) is distinct from the mandatory exclusionary rule in s 137. Evidence of an accused's status as a serving prisoner, adduced to rebut an innocent explanation for conduct, is not tendency evidence within s 97 where it is not tendered for the purpose of proving a tendency to act in a particular way.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 5 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 5 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.