Braysich v The Queen

Criminal law – Evidence - Burden of proof - Defences - Directions to jury - Appellant charged with creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading in securities - Appellant deemed to have created false or misleading appearance of active trading if proved to have caused a sale of securities where, to his knowledge, there was no change in beneficial ownership of securities - Section creating offence included a defence to prove that the purpose or purposes of the trades was not or did not include purpose of creating a false or misleading appearance of active trading ("proscribed purpose") - Where appellant did not give direct evidence of whether subjective purpose or purposes included proscribed purpose - Trial judge ruled defence not raised and withheld defence from jury - Whether character evidence as to honesty and other evidence in defence case sufficient to require defence to be left to jury - Whether, taking evidence at its highest, jury could conclude on balance of probabilities that appellant lacked proscribed purpose.

Corporations – Financial services and markets - Market misconduct and other prohibited conduct - False trading and market rigging.

Words and phrases – "balance of probabilities", "evidential burden", "false or misleading appearance of active trading", "legal burden".

Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – s 1401.

Corporations Law – ss 998, 1311(1).