Following McKell v The Queen, a trial judge's summing up must not convey the judge's opinion on disputed factual issues, even with a reminder that the ultimate decision is for the jury. Directing a jury to consider only 'what the evidence tells you' improperly excludes hypotheses consistent with innocence that are reasonably available from the accepted evidence, even if not the subject of direct evidence. A factually incorrect direction that there is 'no evidence' on a point, when evidence does exist, is a material error that may occasion a miscarriage of justice, particularly where it relates to a central aspect of the defence case.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 10 later cases that cite this judgment.
3 of the 10 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.