A breach of the rule in Browne v Dunn by defence counsel in a criminal trial does not necessarily cause a miscarriage of justice. Where the breach results in advantages to the accused — such as being able to give a sworn explanation without the key prosecution witness having the opportunity to respond and without any adverse judicial direction — the accused cannot complain of miscarriage. The 'incurable breach' doctrine from R v SWC is confined to cases of extraordinarily comprehensive failure to put matters to multiple Crown witnesses, where the impact on the jury's view of the accused is so adverse as to be irremediable.
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