'No Case to Answer' Submission
'It is well established that in a jury trial at the conclusion of the prosecution's case it is the judge's function to decide for himself whether evidence has been adduced which, if it were to be accepted by the jury as accurate, would establish each essential element in the alleged offence.' Haw Tua Tua [1982] AC 136, 151. Quoted in Antoun [2006] HCA 2, [17] Gleeson CJ, noted that this was subject to the qualification that the judge may have to decide which inferences are available from the evidence adduced.
Should a weak case be put to the jury?
'[I]f there is evidence (even if tenuous or inherently weak or vague) which can be taken into account by the jury in its deliberations and that evidence is capable of supporting a verdict of guilty, the matter must be left to the jury for its decision. Or, to put the matter in more usual terms, a verdict of not guilty may be directed only if there is a defect in the evidence such that, taken at its highest, it will not sustain a verdict of guilty.' Doney (1990) 171 CLR 207, [17].
But note:
'It is seriously open to question, in my opinion, whether it is in the public interest, having regard to the expense of criminal proceedings and the jeopardy to an accused, of permitting a tenuous, inherently weak or vague case to go to a jury, and whether...the approach in the United Kingdom or some like approach ought not to be adopted in this country.' Antoun [2006] HCA 2, n 74 per Callinan J.
Should a weak case be put to the jury?
'[I]f there is evidence (even if tenuous or inherently weak or vague) which can be taken into account by the jury in its deliberations and that evidence is capable of supporting a verdict of guilty, the matter must be left to the jury for its decision. Or, to put the matter in more usual terms, a verdict of not guilty may be directed only if there is a defect in the evidence such that, taken at its highest, it will not sustain a verdict of guilty.' Doney (1990) 171 CLR 207, [17].
But note:
'It is seriously open to question, in my opinion, whether it is in the public interest, having regard to the expense of criminal proceedings and the jeopardy to an accused, of permitting a tenuous, inherently weak or vague case to go to a jury, and whether...the approach in the United Kingdom or some like approach ought not to be adopted in this country.' Antoun [2006] HCA 2, n 74 per Callinan J.