Where a District Court judge is asked to state a case under s 5B of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912, the question whether the uncontested facts are capable of supporting the judge's state of satisfaction under s 18(2) of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 is a question of law that must be referred to the Court of Criminal Appeal unless frivolous. A refusal to state such a case constitutes jurisdictional error reviewable by the Court of Appeal notwithstanding s 176 of the District Court Act 1973. The admissibility of admissions made by an offender to a probation officer during an ICO assessment, where the offender was encouraged to be honest and not warned that statements could be used on appeal, raises an arguable question as to whether it is in the interests of justice to admit such evidence.
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