El Hassan v NSW Director of Public Prosecutions

The applicant, El Hassan, sought judicial review by way of certiorari of a judgment of the District Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned whether the District Court had denied El Hassan natural justice by granting the Director of Public Prosecutions leave to amend their notice of appeal to pursue an appeal against sentence only. This amendment, El Hassan argued, prejudiced his ability to pursue a defence of honest and reasonable mistake.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the District Court's decision to permit the amendment of the notice of appeal, thereby limiting the appeal to sentence, constituted a denial of natural justice to El Hassan. This question was intrinsically linked to whether such an amendment would improperly impair El Hassan's right to advance the defence of honest and reasonable mistake, and the nature of that defence itself.

The court determined that the defence of honest and reasonable mistake, as it applied in this context, did not require the prosecution to prove the absence of such a mistake. Rather, it was a matter for the accused to establish. Consequently, the court found that the amendment of the notice of appeal to focus solely on sentence did not deny El Hassan natural justice, as it did not preclude him from raising or establishing his defence. The summons was dismissed with costs.