The crown sought leave to appeal against a terminating ruling. The defendant was accused of rape and sexual assault against his sister, profoundly deaf and with learning difficulties. The judge had found the victim to not be competent to give evidence. The defendant objected that the court did nothave jurisdiction to hear the appeal, the Crown not having complied with the rules for service of the required notices.
Held: Leave was granted, and the appeal succeeded. The requirement to give notice only came into play when the judge gave his ruling in court. The judge had given an informal view in an email, but time ran only from the point where that email was confirmed as is judgment in open court: ‘provisions under the terminating ruling legislation are strict, and an informal procedure is wholly inconsistent with them. The e-mail which was sent to counsel contained the warning that it was intended ‘only for the attention of the addressee’. We regard this informal procedure as a courtesy by the judge to counsel, but no more. It would be wrong to accord it the status of a formal ruling triggering the strict rules applying to appeals against terminating rulings.’
The judge had erred having: ‘substituted the issue of the interpreter’s difficulties in communicating for the test of whether the witness could understand questions and give intelligible answers.’
Treaey LJ, Saunders J, Milford QC
[2013] 1 WLR 2143, [2013] EWCA Crim 424, (2013) 177 JP 406, [2013] 2 Cr App R 13, [2014] Crim LR 136
Bailii
Criminal Procedure Rules 2012, Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 53(3), Criminal Justice Act 2003
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – NT, Regina v CACD 31-Mar-2010
The prosecutor appealed against a stay of the prosecution as an abuse. The prosecution had failed give the undertaking necessary on lodging the appeal to the court against whose ruling it wanted to appeal, that it agreed that the defendant should be . .
Cited – Regina v B CACD 21-Jan-2010
The court granted leave to appeal against conviction, but then dismissed the defendant’s appeal. He had been convicted of sexual assault on a young child.
Held: A delay in a hearing did not of itself render the evidence of a very young . .
Cited – Regina v MacPherson CACD 27-Jul-2005
The court considered the procedures to be followed for the giving of evidence by persons with reduced mental competence. . .
Cited – Regina v M CACD 26-Apr-2012
The defendant was told in court at the time of the judge’s ruling in court that the proceedings against him were being terminated.
Held: For a prosecutor’s appeal against a ‘terminating ruling’, the statutory requirement that either an . .
Cited by:
Cited – PY, Regina v CACD 22-Jan-2019
Police ‘lawful use’ of dog must be police work
The prosecutor wished to appeal from the acquittal of a police officer, whose police dog, while being exercised, attacked a runner causing injury. The judge had accepted the defence, since the dog required exercise, the officer was using the dog for . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 31 October 2021; Ref: scu.472945