Under s 16(1) of the Jury Directions Act 2015 (Vic), a trial judge's residual obligation to give unrequested directions requires 'substantial and compelling reasons' — meaning reasons of considerable importance and strongly persuasive in the context of the trial issues. A direction that is incongruous with and has the potential to undermine the defence case will not meet this threshold, even where the evidence might otherwise support the direction. The interaction between mandatory direction provisions (such as the former s 37AA of the Crimes Act 1958) and s 16(1) of the JDA 2015 means that the mandatory character of the former does not override the requirement for substantial and compelling reasons where the direction was not sought by defence counsel.
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