The evidential burden on a defendant to raise the defence of honest and reasonable mistake of fact requires only that the defendant adduce sufficient evidence to raise the issue; the defendant is not required to establish the defence on the balance of probabilities. A commercial fisherman's reliance on visual estimation of fish size, where an accurate measuring device is available and the fish falls into a doubtful size category, cannot support an objectively reasonable belief that the fish is of legal size. The legislative policy of strict controls to protect marine resources is relevant to assessing the reasonableness of such a belief.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 4 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.