The applicants had been charged with offences, but later acquitted. On arrest they had had DNA samples and fingerprints taken, and the details added to the national DNA database. The police refused to remove the records after the acquittals. Held: The appeals failed. The refusal to remove the records was not an infringement of a … Continue reading Regina (on the application of S) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, Regina (Marper) v Same: CA 12 Sep 2002
The police authority took samples of DNA and fingerprints from the claimants whilst under arrest. After their cases had been dismissed or failed, they requested destruction of the samples and records, but this was refused. Held: There was no engagement of the applicants’ art 8 rights to privacy. Even if there was, the keeping of … Continue reading Regina (S) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire; Regina (Marper) v Same: Admn 22 Mar 2002
Where a defendant gave a sample of DNA during an investigation, but the sample was not destroyed on his acquittal, evidence obtained from a cross match relating to a different crime was not admissible. The statute requires the samples to be destroyed, and evidence based upon samples not so destroyed cannot be admitted. Judges: Swinton … Continue reading Regina v B (Attorney-General’s Reference No 3 of 1999); Regina v Weir: CACD 26 May 2000
An horrific rape had taken place. The defendant was arrested on a separate matter, tried and acquitted. He was tried under a false ID. His DNA sample should have been destroyed but wasn’t. Had his identity been known, his DNA could have been kept because of other convictions. He was arrested for the rape after … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference No. 3 of 1999: HL 14 Dec 2000
The claimants had each had biometric samples taken during police investigations, and now sought judicial review of the decision of the respondent not to remove those details from the Police National Computer, saying that in accordance with the decision of the ECHR it was a disproportionate interference with their human rights to keep the data. … Continue reading Regina (GC) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; Regina (C) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: Admn 16 Jul 2010
The local authority was investigating allegations involving the family history of children in their care. They sought disclosure by the respondent police authority of the results DNA comparison tests to assist their investigations. The court considered whether a matching report on a DNA sample itself was derived from the sample. Held: Disclosure could not be … Continue reading London Borough of Lewisham v D and Others: FD 29 Mar 2010
A DNA sample had been wrongfully retained after the suspect had been acquitted, and the sample had been used in a later investigation to identify him. A subsequent sample had been taken, and the result of that second test had been used as evidence at trial. The defendant objected, and claimed that it had been … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 1999) (Lynn): HL 15 Dec 2000
The court was asked to decide from whom DNA samples could lawfully be taken by the Police,and for how long they should be kept. The first respondent now said that a declaration of incompatibility of section 64(1A) could not be avoided. Held: (Majority: Lord Dyson, Lord Phillips, Lady Hale, Lord Judge and Lord Kerr. Dissenting: … Continue reading GC v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis: SC 18 May 2011
(Grand Chamber) The applicants complained that on being arrested on suspicion of offences, samples of their DNA had been taken, but then despite being released without conviction, the samples had retained on the Police database. Held: (Unanimous) The retention was unlawful. Though other member states retained some DNA samples in certain conditions, the UK was … Continue reading Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom: ECHR 4 Dec 2008
Police Retention of Suspects DNA and Fingerprints The claimants complained that their fingerprints and DNA records taken on arrest had been retained after discharge before trial, saying the retention of the samples infringed their right to private life. Held: The parts of DNA used for testing are not generally capable of revealing medical information about … Continue reading S, Regina (on Application of) v South Yorkshire Police; Regina v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police ex parte Marper: HL 22 Jul 2004
Citations: [2003] EWHC 1720 (Admin) Links: Bailii Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 76 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Criminal Practice Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.185648
This judicial review raised for express decision whether a person whose premises have been searched and whose property seized under a search warrant must have enough information grounding the warrant to judge its lawfulness and the retention of the material seized under it. In this case the information before the justice of the peace granting … Continue reading Haralambous v St Albans Crown Court and Another: Admn 22 Apr 2016
The defendant had been convicted of murder in 1952, and hung. A court hearing an appeal after many years must apply laws from different eras to different aspects. The law of the offence (of murder) to be applied was that at the time of the offence. In this case however the summing up was so … Continue reading Regina v Derek William Bentley (Deceased): CACD 30 Jul 1998
Golden Thread of British Justice – Proof of Intent The appellant had been convicted of the murder of his wife. She had left him and returned to live with her mother. He went to the house. He said he intended to frighten her that he would kill himself if she did not return. He wired … Continue reading Woolmington v Director of Public Prosecutions: HL 23 May 1935
The claimant had been arrested and interviewed. The custody officer then decided to hold him in custody until he had received a decision from the CPS as to whether to charge him and with what offence. The claimant sought judicial review of the decision to hold him, saying the custody had no such power. Held: … Continue reading G, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions: CA 5 Feb 2008
The court asked whether the power of arrest under s6 of the 1864 Act survived s26 of the 1984 Act. Held: The 1984 Act affected only the powers given to police officers as police officers. The power under s6 of the Vagrancy Act applied to any person, and therefore was not affected by a restriction … Continue reading Gapper v Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary: CA 2 Jul 1998
The claimants challenged search warrants and the seizure of materials under the warrants. Held: The Court emphasised the need for precision within the warrant itself. Judges: Sir John Thomas P QB, Wilkie J Citations: [2012] EWHC 3745 (Admin), [2013] 1 WLR 2706 Links: Bailii Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 9, Criminal Justice and … Continue reading Van Der Pijl and Another v The Crown Court At Kingston: Admn 21 Dec 2012
Claimants sought damages for personal injuries incurred when, in Pristina, Kosovo and during a riot, British soldiers on a UN peacekeeping expedition fired on a car. Held: The incidents occurred in the course of peace-keeping duties. It was not argued that they occurred in combat, and it was established that in cases of riot, soldiers … Continue reading Bici and Bici v Ministry of Defence: QBD 7 Apr 2004
The police had information suggesting (wrongly) that a fugitive resided at an address. An armed raid followed, and the claimant occupant sought damages. Held: The tort of malicious procurement of a search warrant required it to be established both that there was no reasonable or probable cause for requesting the search warrant and that there … Continue reading Keegan and Others v Chief Constable of Merseyside: CA 3 Jul 2003
A sample of hair taken without the suspect’s consent was not an intimate sample, and did not require the associated permissions and procedures. Evidence derived from such a sample was accordingly admissible in evidence. Citations: Ind Summary 05-Sep-1994, Times 10-Aug-1994, Gazette 07-Oct-1994 Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 65 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Police, … Continue reading Regina v Cooke (Stephen): CACD 10 Aug 1994
The defendant appealed from his conviction of murder. He complained that the judge should not have admitted in evidence material derived from a covert surveillance. The covert surveillance was of the defendant at his family home, and had been authorised by the Chief Constable and the Surveillance Commissioner. He complained that the matters in issue … Continue reading Turner v Regina: CACD 9 May 2013
The claimant alleged complicity by the defendant, (now former) Foreign Secretary, in his mistreatment by the US while held in Libya. He also alleged involvement in his unlawful abduction and removal to Libya, from which had had fled for political persecution. The defendants now appealed from rejection of the defendants’ claim to state immunity and … Continue reading Belhaj and Another v Straw and Others: SC 17 Jan 2017
The claimants had made application for tapes held by the respondent to be released. The claimant offered undertakings as to their preservation, and agreement had been reached. The outstanding issue was as to costs. The tapes were recorded by the claimant of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Held: To justify retention of a document, … Continue reading Settelen and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: ChD 29 Sep 2004
The court as asked about when an order may be made under section 9(1) and Schedule 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) to compel the production of a journalist’s note for potential use at a criminal trial. Citations: [2019] EWHC 2756 (Admin) Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Police, Media Updated: … Continue reading The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Regina (on The Application of): Admn 22 Oct 2019
In a prosecution for an offence of indecent assault on a girl under 16 under the section, it was necessary for the prosecution to prove the absence of a positive belief in the defendant’s mind that the victim was 16 or over. The legislation history showed an anomalous bringing together of different, and conflicting strands … Continue reading Regina v K: HL 25 Jul 2001
The Claimant seeks judicial review of the dismissal of his complaint against a police officer in the Hampshire Constabulary for his failure to comply with paragraph 11.13 of Code C of the Codes of Practice, issued pursuant to section 66 of the 1984 Act, in not recording his comments after being cautioned for a suspected … Continue reading Karia, Regina (on The Application of) v The Chief Constable of Hampshire Contabulary: Admn 15 Dec 2015
The claimant had had computers seized by the defendant under searches despite his assertion that they contained legally privileged material. The claimant had been discredited as an expert witness in cases relating to the possession of indecent images. Held: The warrant had been obtained without proper consideration of the question of whether any of the … Continue reading Bates and Another v Chief Constable of the Avon and Somerset Police and Another: Admn 8 May 2009
The claimants had been detained under the 1971 Act, after completing sentences of imprisonment pending their return to their home countries under deportations recommended by the judges at trial, or chosen by the respondent. They challenged as unlawful the respondent’s, at first unpublished, policy introduced in 2006, that by default, those awaiting deportation should be … Continue reading Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: SC 23 Mar 2011
The police went to detain the appellant under the 1983 Act. To do so they entered the property against her wishes. She resisted detention, and now appealed her conviction for assaulting the Police officers in the execution of their duty, saying that the entry was unlawful, and that detention under the 1983 Act was not … Continue reading D’Souza v Director of Public Prosecutions: HL 15 Oct 1992
The defendant on a charge of rape had been tried and acquitted of the rape of different women on three previous occasions in three separate trials. The prosecution wished to call those three complainants to give similar fact evidence in support of the new charge. Held: Similar fact evidence was not inadmissible only because it … Continue reading Regina v Z (Prior acquittal): HL 22 Jun 2000
It was alleged that evidence had been obtained by police oppression. She had at first refused to answer questions, but an officer talked to her during a break between interviews, telling her that her lover had been having an affair. The circumstances caused the appellant severe distress, and she made admissions in the following interview. … Continue reading Regina v Fulling: CACD 1987
The police officer had been accused of an offence. The case was discharged under the section at committal. The Commissioner sought to commence disciplinary proceedings on the same evidence. Held: The tests of the two sets of hearings were different. The magistrates had been asked to see whether there was sufficient evidence to justify putting … Continue reading Regina (on the Application of Redgrave) v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: CA 22 Jan 2003
The defendant was accused of murder. He had been identified by a witness who knew him, but the witness himself was murdered before the trial. The court allowed the prosecutor to read the deceased witness’ statement. Another witness for whom an ID parade had been held had only seen the defendant from the rear, but … Continue reading Regina v Nolan: CACD 15 Feb 2002
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder. He said that the court had not allowed his alcoholism as a characteristic for the purposes of testing the defence of provocation, and that the evidence of his long standing partner should be treated as equivalent to that of a wife, making her evidence admissible but not … Continue reading Regina v Pearce: CACD 11 Dec 2001
Where the judge decided that no inference could be drawn from the defendant’s silence, because of the absence of facts which could have been mentioned, he had a duty positively to warn the jury not arbitrarily to draw adverse inferences from the silence. He had been wrong to leave it open to the jury to … Continue reading Regina v McGarry: CACD 16 Jul 1998
Judicial Review is not the appropriate way to challenge the excessive nature of a search warrant issues by magistrates. A private law remedy is better. Jowitt J said: ‘Judicial review is not a fact finding exercise and it is an extremely unsatisfactory tool by which to determine, in any but the clearest of cases, whether … Continue reading Regina v Chief Constable for Warwickshire and Others Ex Parte Fitzpatrick and Others: QBD 1 Oct 1997
An order was made for a journalist to disclose to the police material disclosed to him in connection with a prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. The journalist appealed the order, on the basis that it was in effect an order that he incriminate himself. The order had been made in the context of the … Continue reading Regina v Central Criminal Court Ex Parte Bright; Regina v Same, Ex Parte Rusbridger: QBD 21 Jul 2000
The statutory power of arrest in section 91 of the CJA 1967 for the offence of drunk and disorderly in a public place was not repealed by section 26(1), despite the absence of any reference thereto in Schedule 2 to PACE. Citations: [1990] COD 149, [1990] CLR 394, Times 17-Nov-1989 Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1967 … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Kitching: 1989
An unmarried partner in a long-term relationship with the accused was a compellable witness against him even though, had they been married, she would not have been. The statutory provisions applied to husband and wife and no one else. Citations: [2002] 1 CAR 39 Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence 1984 Cited by: Cited – Bala … Continue reading Regina v Pearce: CACD 2002
The defendant was arrested at home on suspicion of one charge, but the police then asked questions about his clothing. He appealed saying the replies should not have been included. Held: The questions were intended to secure admissions, and should only have been asked at the police station, but no miscarriage of justice had occurred. … Continue reading Regina v Cox: CACD 1993
The claimants said that they had been tortured by Saudi police when arrested on false charges. They sought damages, and appealed against an order denying jurisdiction over the defendants. They said that the allegation of torture allowed an exception to state immunity. Held: The Kingdom’s appeal succeeded. The protection of state immunity was essentially a … Continue reading Jones v Ministry of Interior for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and others: HL 14 Jun 2006
The defendant appealed his conviction for possession of a firearm, complaining that the statement of his co-accused had not been admitted. The judge saying that since the co-accused had admitted the offence he had no jurisdiction to admit the statement or to admit it as hearsay. Held: Having pleaded guilty, the co-accused was no longer … Continue reading Regina v Finch: CACD 15 Jan 2007
Identification of Company’s Directing Mind In a prosecution under the 1968 Act, the court discussed how to identify the directing mind and will of a company, and whether employees remained liable when proper instructions had been given to those in charge of a local store. Held: ‘In the expression ‘act or default’ in section 23 … Continue reading Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass: HL 31 Mar 1971
Computer based evidence, which says what would have been said by the person making the record, remains hearsay, and is inadmissible without statutory provision otherwise. There is no exception for summary civil proceedings for the collection of community charge arrears. Legislation in the Magistrates court had made computer based evidence admissible but only for criminal … Continue reading Regina v Coventry Justices Ex Parte Bullard and Another: QBD 15 Apr 1992
The parties appealed against a decision by the judge under the 1996 Act at a preliminary hearing to accept only written submissions and to limit the length of those submissions for and against the admission of material at trial under the 1984 Act. Held: The judge’s powers of case management included such a power. Any … Continue reading Regina v K and Others: CACD 4 Apr 2006
Banker’s Liability for Negligent Reference The appellants were advertising agents. They were liable themselves for advertising space taken for a client, and had sought a financial reference from the defendant bankers to the client. The reference was negligent, but the bankers denied any assumption of a duty of care to a third party when purely … Continue reading Hedley Byrne and Co Ltd v Heller and Partners Ltd: HL 28 May 1963
The claimants, Pakistani students in the UK on student visas, had been arrested and held by the defendants under the 2000 Act before being released 13 days later without charge. They were at first held incognito. They said that their arrest and detentions had been unlawful since they had not been given sufficient information about … Continue reading Sher and Others v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and Others: Admn 21 Jul 2010
The defendant published a film showing the claimant involved in sex acts with prostitutes. It characterised them as ‘Nazi’ style. He was the son of a fascist leader, and a chairman of an international sporting body. He denied any nazi element, and claimed in breach of confidence. Held: ‘The law [of confidence] now affords protection … Continue reading Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd: QBD 24 Jul 2008
COURT (PLENARY) The complainant asserted that his telephone conversation had been tapped on the authority of a warrant signed by the Secretary of State, but that there was no system to supervise such warrants, and that it was not therefore in ‘accordance with law’. The taps were based on a non-binding and unpublished directive from … Continue reading Malone v The United Kingdom: ECHR 2 Aug 1984
The court was asked whether proceedings in a military court against soldiers for disciplinary offences involved criminal charges within the meaning of Article 6(1): ‘In this connection, it is first necessary to know whether the provision(s) defining the offence charged belong, according to the legal system of the respondent State, to criminal law, disciplinary law … Continue reading Engel And Others v The Netherlands (1): ECHR 8 Jun 1976
A prison policy requiring prisoners not to be present when their property was searched and their mail was examined was unlawful. The policy had been introduced after failures in search procedures where officers had been intimidated by the presence of prisoners. Particularly when examining documents subject to legal professional privilege, the rules did not allow … Continue reading Regina (Daly) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 23 May 2001
The defendant appealed against an unsuccessful application to exclude evidence where it was claimed there had been incitement by an agent provocateur. Held: The appeal failed. There is no defence of entrapment in English law. All evidence which is relevant is prima facie admissible in a criminal trial, although the trial judge has a discretion … Continue reading Regina v Sang: HL 25 Jul 1979
The claimant, who had a criminal record from 1984, and 1993, had refused to accede to a requirement that he attend at a police station to provide a non-intimate sample so that a DNA record could be created for him to be placed on the national database. He said that though the request was made … Continue reading R, Regina (on The Application of) v A Chief Constable: Admn 24 Sep 2013
A Dutch serviceman who had been arrested for desertion and brought before a magistrate who ordered him to be handed over to the Dutch military authorities under the Allied Forces Act 1940. An application for habeas corpus was rejected by a Divisional Court. The Court of Appeal held that they had no jurisdiction to entertain … Continue reading Amand v Home Secretary and Minister of Defence of Royal Netherlands Government: HL 1943
The House considered the power of an officer of the Board of Inland Revenue to seize and remove materials found on premises which a warrant obtained on application to the Common Serjeant authorised him to enter and search; but where the source of the power limited the power of seizure and removal to things ‘which … Continue reading Regina v Inland Revenue Commissioners ex parte Rossminster Ltd: HL 13 Dec 1979
The defendant appealed against orders allowing the use in evidence against him of information provided by him in ancillary relief proceedings, and without prejudice negotations with his wife’s solicitors. Held: The information provided through the formal ancillary relief process had been obtained under compulsion, and the rules had been intended to require full disclosure and … Continue reading K, Regina v: CACD 28 Jul 2009
The deceased soldier died of heat exhaustion whilst on active service in Iraq. It was said that he was owed a duty under human rights laws, and that any coroner’s inquest should be a fuller one to satisfy the state’s duty under Article 2. Held: The SSD’s appeal succeeded. ‘jurisdiction’ within the meaning of Article … Continue reading Smith, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence and Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening): SC 30 Jun 2010
The claimants alleged that a connection between a member of the Restrictive Practices Court, who was to hear a complaint and another company, disclosed bias against them. She had not recused herself. Held: When asking whether material circumstances in a case might give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias, the test was whether objectively … Continue reading In Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 2); Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain and Proprietary Articles Trade Association: CA 21 Dec 2000
The applicants had been imprisoned and held without trial, being suspected of international terrorism. No criminal charges were intended to be brought. They were foreigners and free to return home if they wished, but feared for their lives if they did. A British subject, who was suspected in the exact same way, and there were … Continue reading A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, and X v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 16 Dec 2004
Each claimant said that they had been wrongfully arrested, the arresting police officers having either failed to ask whether the arrest was necessary (Farrelly), or mistakenly concluding so. Held: The Order now contained in regulation 26(5) an exhaustive list of the possible reasons for an arrest, and the Code of Practice required the officer to … Continue reading Alexander, Farrelly and Others, Re Judicial Review: QBNI 5 Mar 2009
The pursuer sought damages after her husband’s death from lung cancer. She said that the defenders were negligent in having continued to sell him cigarettes knowing that they would cause this. Held: The action failed. The plaintiff had not proved that the smoking of cigarettes was the cause of the lung cancer, and it was … Continue reading McTear v Imperial Tobacco Ltd: OHCS 31 May 2005
The claimant appealed against dismissal of her claim. She had been head of Child Services at Haringey. After the notorious violent death of Baby P, the Secretary of State called for an inquiry under the Act. He then removed her as director. She claimed that the dismissal was unfair, not having been given opportunity to … Continue reading Shoesmith, Regina (on The Application of) v OFSTED and Others: CA 27 May 2011
The claimant had been struck from the register of nurses after convictions arising from failures of his staff at his nursing home with regard to drug management. He had then brought claims of unlawful race discrimination against the health authority and against the respondent. Those claims had been dismissed as frivolous, no valid comparator having … Continue reading Balamoody v United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting: CA 6 Dec 2001
Res Gestae Evidence correctly admitted The appellant challenged by case stated the admission by magistrates at his trial of two pieces of evidence under the res gestae principle under section 118(3) of the 2003 Act. The allegation was one of domestic violence. The court had admitted the distressed call by the complainant for the police, … Continue reading Morgan v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 6 Dec 2016
The House was asked two questions: the meaning of ‘confession’ for the purposes of section 76(1) of the 1984 Act, and as to the defence of duress. The defendant had been involved in burglary, being told his family would be harmed if he refused. The person making the threat had boasted of murders one of … Continue reading Hasan, Regina v: HL 17 Mar 2005
The Court was asked whether the Government can lawfully act in a manner which is inconsistent with an order of a judge which is defective, without first applying for, and obtaining, the variation or setting aside of the order. The appellant had been . .
Appeal against a decision that a forced entry into the claimant’s home by police was not unlawful. . .
The defendants, operators of licensed sex shops, appealed convictions for offences under the Act. The shops had supplied videos rated R*18 by mail order from the shops. The Trading Standards Officer said this did not satisfy the requirement that . .
‘The first two claimants – both of whom are children aged 11 – and the third claimant David Morris seek permission to challenge their stop-and-searches under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (‘PACE’) on 5 and 6 August 2008. The . .
There had been a collision between two ships. The plaintiff sought to have admitted in evidence a film of radar echoes recorded by a shore radio station. The defendants argued that evidence produced mechanically and without human intervention was . .
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