The Weissensteiner principle permitting adverse inferences from an accused's failure to give evidence does not apply where the accused's denial of the Crown case is before the court (via record of interview) and is corroborated by another witness; the principle applies only where the Crown depends on the jury drawing inferences from facts in circumstances where the accused offers no explanation. Extreme delay (40+ years) in historical sexual offence cases, combined with the death of material witnesses, changes in the law, and the accused's inability to obtain objective evidence, may render a trial unfair and constitute a miscarriage of justice.
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