to rebut a defence which would otherwise be open to the accused. The statement of these general principles is easy, but it is obvious that it may often be very difficult to draw the line and to decide whether a particular piece of evidence is on the one side or the other. Evidence of similar facts can only be admitted if it is both relevant and its probative value outweighed any prejudicial effect. Aftermath A plea for clemency for John Makin, was denied and he was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol on 15 August 1893. Extraterritoriality The court also delivered an opinion that colonial legislatures did not have the power to pass laws with extraterritorial effect: Their Lordships think it right to add that they are of the opinion that if the wider construction had been applied to the statute, and it was supposed that it was intended thereby to comprehend cases so wide as those insisted on at the bar, it would have been beyond the competence of the Colony to enact such a law. Their jurisdiction is confined within their own territories, and the maxim which has been more than once quoted, 'Extra territorium jus dicenti impune non paretur,' would be applicable to such a case. The question was already uncertain prior to this, and as an obiter dictum the opinion was not binding; nevertheless it had a chilling effect on Dominion legislatures' willingness to pass extraterritorial laws until the Statute of Westminster 1931 explicitly stated that they had the power to do so. See also List of Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases Sweitzer v. The Queen [1982] 1 S.C.R. 949 at 952 References Sources Citations Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases on appeal from Australia 1894 in case law 1894 in Australia