A trial judge's direction that pleas of not guilty be entered on behalf of an unrepresented accused, without requiring the accused to personally plead, does not render the trial a nullity where the accused clearly intended to plead not guilty and suffered no prejudice. The consequence of non-compliance with arraignment procedure under s 130(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 (NSW) depends on statutory construction applying Project Blue Sky principles, not rigid formalism. In assessing whether a defective trial constitutes a miscarriage of justice, the court may have regard to the extent to which the deficiencies were caused by the accused's own conduct.
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