The defendant was arrested for burglary and a non-intimate sample taken without his consent. The DNA profile matched blood at the scene of the burglary, and this match was the bedrock of the prosecution case. Before the trial, prosecuting counsel applied ex parte to withhold disclosure of certain material. The defence were notified of the … Continue reading Regina v Smith (Joe): CACD 20 Dec 2000
The defendant appealed against his conviction for driving with excess alcohol. He complained that though the officers suspected him of having consumed alcohol, they asked him whether he had been drinking without cautioning him, and that no print out from the Intoximeter having been produced, there was no evidence on which he could be convicted. … Continue reading Sneyd v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 24 Feb 2006
The defendants appealed convictions for being involved in the illegal importation of cocaine, saying that questioning at the airport before a caution was administered was unlawful. By the time they were asked about the cases, the customs officers already knew that the cases contained drugs. The recorder had said that the questions were standard ones … Continue reading Regina v Dianne Senior and Samantha Senior: CA 4 Mar 2004
The motorist had been stopped. He had not failed the roadside breathalyzer test, but the officer continued and arrested him. He was acquitted. The prosecutor appealed. Held: The use of the section 6 breathalyzer procedure did not exclude the officer relying on the powers contained in section 4 of the Act. Where the officer believed … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Robertson: QBD 4 Mar 2002
Appeal from conviction under section 4 – whether correct to admit evidence of conviction of co-accused. Citations: [2009] EWCA Crim 1944 Links: Bailii Statutes: Explosive Substances Act 1883 4, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Crime Updated: 17 June 2022; Ref: scu.377754
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
The defendants applied for the defence statements of co-defendants to be disclosed. A co-defendant was to give evidence for the Crown, and they sought to have it excluded as unreliable. Held: The 1996 Act created a duty of secondary disclosure, where a defence statement might be of assistance to the co-defendants. Actual disclosure remained for … Continue reading Regina v Cairns; Regina v Zaldi, Regina v Chaudary: CACD 22 Nov 2002
When a telephone engineer used his position to make unauthorised telephone intercepts, and produced apparent evidence of criminal activity, he was, under the Act, a person engaged in providing a public communications system, and the recordings were not admissible. The phrase ‘engaged in’ could refer either to his status, or that the act was part … Continue reading Regina v Sargent: HL 25 Oct 2001
Evidence was acknowledged to have been obtained unlawfully and in breach of another article of the Convention. The police had installed covert listening devices on private property without the knowledge or consent of the owner. UK national law did not regulate sufficiently the use of covert listening devices to protect the individual’s rights under the … Continue reading Khan v The United Kingdom: ECHR 12 May 2000
Appeal against conviction for handling stolen goods – admission of statement made before officer formed suspicion of theft. The prosecution had first conducted their case on the footing that it had been the property of his employer, but then were unable to establish that. Held: Though the conversation should be admitted, the prosecution had failed … Continue reading Iqbal v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 22 Oct 2004
A was arrested. He was already on bail for possession of cannabis, and in the hope finding further evidence he was asked to empty his pockets, ‘and put the drugs on the table’ he did so and admitted selling drugs. Held: The procedure should only have followed the giving of a caution. This was precisely … Continue reading Regina v Absolam: CACD 1990
The applicant for habeas corpus resisted extradition to India on the ground, among others, that the prosecution relied on a statement obtained by torture and since retracted. Held: the court accepted the magistrate’s judgment that fairness did not call for exclusion of the statement, but was clear that the common law and domestic statute law … Continue reading Nadeem Akhtar Saifi v Governor of Brixton Prison and Union of India: Admn 21 Dec 2000
A Company Court Judge may not fetter the later use of insolvency interviews by a criminal court. The obligation to give the information will not prejudice the fairness of a possible criminal trial, since the accused would still have the protection of section 78 of the Act of 1984. Judges: Lord Browne-Wilkinson Citations: Independent 26-Jul-1994, … Continue reading Hamilton and Another v Naviede and Director of SFO: HL 26 Jul 1994
Cases brought by the RSPCA under the 2006 Act were dismissed after evidence was not admitted. They now appealed. Search warrants had been obtained for one purpose but, the defendants had argued, that purpose having been satisfied, the search which continued had been unlawful, and that evidence drawn from that activity should not be admitted. … Continue reading RSPCA, Regina (on The Application of) v Colchester Magistrates’ Court: Admn 11 Mar 2015
The defendant had been enticed to commit a crime involving supply of controlled drugs by a journalist acting as an agent provocateur. Held: Entrapment is not a defence in UK law. It was open to the judge hearing the prosecution to exclude the evidence on the grounds that it was unfair, but there was no … Continue reading Regina v Shannon (Also Known As Alford): CACD 11 Oct 2000
The admissibility of evidence was not questionable at appeal if it had not been raised before the Justices. Citations: Times 29-Dec-1994 Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78 Criminal Evidence Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.78552
The search of a victim’s premises which continued after evidence had come to light suggesting the victim might be a suspect was in breach of the codes of practice where it continued without the consent of the occupier. Evidence which was derived from that continued search was unlawful. Nevertheless, it was fair to admit the … Continue reading Regina v Sanghera: CA 26 Oct 2000
A statement was wrongly admitted after the suspect had been wrongly refused a solicitor. Citations: Times 16-Jun-1994 Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Criminal Evidence Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.86678
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 evidence of an expert to prove identification by voice was admissible. Also voice recognition evidence given by a phonetician was admissible as expert evidence; and that evidence of police officers who listened to disputed tapes and recognised the voice of the person speaking was admissible as factual evidence, subect to section 78 considerations.Bingham LJ … Continue reading Regina v Robb: CACD 1991
The judge had excluded identification evidence after the witness was said to have seen a photograph of the defendant on social media before the identification. Held: The appeal succeeded. Judges: Simon LJ, McGowan J, Judge Burbidge QC Citations: [2019] EWCA Crim 58, [2019] WLR(D) 79 Links: Bailii, WLRD Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 … Continue reading LT, Regina v: CACD 31 Jan 2019
A tape recorded conversation with undercover officers was admitted without investigation. Citations: Times 31-Dec-1994 Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Criminal Evidence Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.86553
Where a plain clothes officers had invited a taxi driver to take them to a destination in breach of his licence without disclosing their identity, and he did so willingly, their evidence was not to be excluded as that of an agent provocateur. Despite the Human Rights Convention and Act, the position in England remains … Continue reading Nottingham City Council v Amin: QBD 2 Dec 1999
Appeal by way of case stated from a pre-trial ruling of the Black Country Magistrates’ Court in respect of an information preferred against the Appellant for failing to provide a specimen of blood in breach of section 7 of the 1988 Act, and not to exercise its discretion under section 78 of the 1984 Act … Continue reading Miller v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 15 Feb 2018
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
The defendant had been acquitted after DNA evidence was found inadmissible. That basis was later overturned by the HL. Held: The same evidence could be admitted at a second trial. Judges: The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (Lord Judge) Mrs Justice Macur DBE And Mr Justice Saunders Citations: [2012] EWCA Crim 414, [2012] … Continue reading B, Regina v: CACD 29 Feb 2012
The defendants faced substantial trials involving drugs offences. At a preparatory hearing the court made decisions about abuse of process and as to what evidence might be admitted. The prosecutor said there was no right of appeal. Held: (publication having been held back) Since the issues would have been heard in the absence of the … Continue reading Regina v Claydon; Regina v Regina v Hall; Regina v Costall; Regina v French: CACD 13 Jun 2001
The Serious Fraud Office appealed against rulings on the admission of evidence after its exclusion under section 78. Held: The appeal was allowed. The appeal had been brought within time and could proceed. Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The judge confused or elided two quite separate concepts, namely (a) the ‘identification’ principle which is … Continue reading A Ltd and Othersi, Regina v: CACD 28 Jul 2016
The claimant sought damages from the first defendant for breach of copyright. An ex parte search order had been executed, with the defendant asserting his privilege against self-incrimination. As computer disks were examined, potentially unlawful images of children were found. The searching officer asked the court for directions as to what to do. Held: The … Continue reading C Plc and W v P and Secretary of State for the Home Office and the Attorney General: ChD 26 May 2006
Questions on Entry must be answered B was questioned at an airport under Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act, and required to answer questions asked by appropriate officers for the purpose set out. She refused to answer and was convicted of that refusal , contrary to paragraph 18 of that Schedule. She appealed, saying that … Continue reading Beghal v Director of Public Prosecutions: SC 22 Jul 2015
The defendant appealed against a confiscation order, made on the basis of evidence secured from a probe installed in his car. He had made clear that he disputed the recordings. A second judge had inherited the proceedings, and ruled that he could not challenge the recordings. Held: There is no authority for the proposition that … Continue reading Knaggs v Regina: CACD 13 Jul 2009
The police had obtained the evidence against the defendant by fixing a covert listening device at an apartment visited by the defendant, and by recording his conversations there. The defendant appealed, saying that the court should have regard to his rights of privacy as enshrined in articles 6 and 8 of the Convention. Held: There … Continue reading Regina v Khan (Sultan): HL 2 Jul 1996
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 defendant had been lured into the UK by the unlawful acts of customs officers. He claimed abuse of process. Held: The category of cases in which the abuse of process principles can be applied is not closed. A customs officer committing an offence alongside the defendant did not necessarily make thereby make a prosecution … Continue reading Regina v Latif; Regina v Shahzad: HL 23 Jan 1996
The appellant challenged the introduction in evidence of a previous inconsistent statement lodged on his behalf by counsel on a Plea and Case Management Form at a directions hearing. Held: The appeal was allowed. An advocate plainly has implied actual authority to do what is normally incidental, in the ordinary course of his profession, to … Continue reading Newell, Regina v: CACD 30 Mar 2012
The defendant appealed against his convictions for possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply. He complained at the use of of text messages found on his phone against him, saying they were hearsay. Held: The texts contained assertions by a third party intending them to be believed, and were to be admitted as evidence … Continue reading Regina v Leonard: CACD 28 Apr 2009
The defendant complained that, after acting on his solicitor’s advice to not answer questions when interviewed by the police, the court had allowed the jury to draw inferences from his failure. The police had failed to make such full disclosure of the case against the appellant as they could and should have done. The solicitor’s … Continue reading Regina v Argent: CACD 16 Dec 1996
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 defendants appealed against their convictions and sentence of three years for money laundering. Dehumidifiers and similar had been sold at grossly inflated prices to the elderly. It was ‘a most despicable fraud committed on the vulnerable people . .
Appeal from conviction of conspiracy to supply a class A drug – the judge was wrong to allow the prosecution to put in evidence his conviction in the Netherlands and that as a result his conviction is unsafe.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘The . .
The defendants appealed against their convictions after admission of secret tape recordings made by the police in breach, said the defendants of the 2000 Act and unlawful. The recordings had been in the police van. The Crown said that this was not a . .
The defendants appealed against convictions for assault and kidnapping, saying that the identification procedures used were at fault.
Held: The identification evidence had been properly admitted. The prosecution witness had not had the . .
Renewed application for leave to seek judicial review of the crown court in dismissing his appeal against conviction for driving with excess alcohol. The judge had refused an adjournment to allow fresh counsel to be instructed, and had behaved in a . .
Alleged assault on an employee of London Transport. Failure of prosecution to disclose existence of independent witness. . .
The defendants appealed against their convictions for murder saying that the court should not have relied upon hearsay evidence. A witness had refused to give evidence, but his earlier evidnece was used.
Held: The appeals failed. The judge had . .
Where communications had been intercepted in a foreign country, and the manner of such interceptions had been lawful in that country, the evidence produced was admissible in evidence in a trial in England. An admission of such evidence was not an . .
The judge was to decide as a matter of law whether an enquiry by a policeman amounts to an interview. . .
Interpretation of ‘discretion’ in excluding evidence is to be limited. . .
It is not a defence merely to show that there had been entrapment or the use of an agent provocateur, but the Judge has a discretion to exclude the evidence obtained if it would be unfair to use it. The need is to ensure a fair trial. . .
It was inadmissible that a person was an addict without direct knowledge of that fact in the witness or of a conviction. . .
The section gives no basis for challenging the admission of a very young child’s evidence. . .
An unlawful bug of a private conversation on private property, was nevertheless correctly admitted into evidence if it was not unfair to do so within the context of the trial. . .
Identification evidence from a pre-trial confrontation in the cells should have been excluded from the trial. . .
A tape recording of a conversation made surreptitiously while a defendant is in a police cell is admissible in evidence. . .
The defendants appealed convictions for importing drugs. They chose not to give evidence. At one point, in the presence of the jury, the judge spoke to counsel about warning the defendants of the ‘potential’ inferences, but the defendants had been . .
The defendant appealed his conviction and sentence for infringements of the 1990 Act. The house was already very severly dilapidated when it came to be listed. He was accused of making changes outside the extent of the listed buildings consent he . .
The absence of the protection of a rule against self-incrimination under the company law questioning procedure, didn’t make the use an admission in criminal proceedings unfair. DTI Inspectors may continue their inquiries after it has become clear . .
The Court of Appeal was not to overturn a Judge’s decision with regard to identification evidence in the absence of any lurking doubt. The admission of evidence goes only to fairness within trial, not unreliability. . .
The defendant appealed against his conviction for rape. There had been a DNA match, but the defendant did not match the description given by the victim, and she had not picked him out. He argued that DNA evidence alone should not be used to convict, . .
Malpractice or entrapment by those outside the legal system was not to be considered in the same way as such behaviour by those who had a formal part in the investigation of crime. That a journalist might encourage a crime for a story should not . .
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 . .
The defendants were accused of assisting a person to evade a control order. On arrest their computers had been seized, and they now sought an order on an interim appeal to discharge the case under the 2000 Act of not providing passwords to encrypted . .
The defendants appealed against their convictions for murder, complaining of the admission against them of hearsay evidence from witnesses in Cyprus. Two of the statements had been later retracted.
Held: The convictions stood. The statements . .
The defendant appealed against her conviction for aggravated vehicle taking. She was found near the scene of a road traffic accident involving a stolen car, and her fingerprint on an isnide rear window. She submitted that the officers had asked as . .
The DPP appealed by case stated against a dismissal of a charge against the respondent following a driving incident. He complained of the admission of bad character evidence saying that it would be unfair under section 78 of the 1984 Act. The . .
The defendant appealed his conviction for aggravated burglary. He complained that evidence of his co-accuseds’ please of guilty had been admitted even though the factual basis of those please differed from the prosecution case aganst him.
The claimants had been prosecuted following authorised intrusive surveillance. They challenged the laws which prevented them from asking questions about interception, and therefore from defending themselves. The defendants said that the police had . .
The defendant appealed against a refusal of a stay of the proceedings as an abuse, and the decision to admit certaiin evidence, and a refusal to issue a witness summons against an alleged informant. The defendant had been subject to an undercover . .
Evidence which had been obtained by a police trick (false shop) was admissible. It’s use was not unfair. Lord Taylor CJ said that the defendants ‘voluntarily applied themselves to the trick’.
When assessing impact the court should assume that . .
The defendant had been convicted of posing as a solicitor in order to commit frauds. He appealed, saying that the court had wrongly admitted evidence of his dealings with illegal immigrants.
Held: The evidence admitted was highly relevant as . .
A serving prisoner was stabbed to death in his cell. The appellant admitted that he had punched the victim twice but maintained that another man had stabbed him, which explained the incriminating presence of the victim’s blood in the vicinity of the . .
The claimants had each been detained without trial for more than two years, being held as suspected terrorists. They were free leave to return to their own countries, but they feared for their lives if returned. They complained that the evidence used to justify their detention was derived from practices involving torture by the US … Continue reading A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, Mahmoud Abu Rideh Jamal Ajouaou v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA 11 Aug 2004
The defendant objected to evidence being used as evidence of bad character against him under the 2003 Act, when it would not have been admissible as similar fact evidence under the old rules. Held: Obiter dicta in O’Brien did not mean that the Act merely codified existing law.The Act made the pre-existing test obsolete. Once … Continue reading Regina v Weir, Somanathan,Yaxley-Lennon, Manister, Qiang He and De Qun He: CACD 11 Nov 2005
The defendant was convicted of fraud charges. He sought to have excluded statements made in interview on the basis that they had been obtained by oppressive behaviour by the police. His wife was very seriously ill in hospital and he had made the statement so that he could get out to see her. The police … Continue reading Regina v Mushtaq: HL 21 Apr 2005
The defendant had been charged with attempting to obtain property by deception by fabricating his death by drowning in the sea off Miami in Florida. The final act alleged to constitute the offence occurred outside the jurisdiction of the English courts. Held: The charge was justiciable in England. The defendant appealed conviction on counts of … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Stonehouse: HL 1977
The accused had been charged with the murder of an infant who had been given into their care by the child’s mother after payment of a fee. They appealed after admission of evidence that several other infants had been received by the accused persons from other mothers and that their bodies were found buried in … Continue reading Makin v Attorney-General for New South Wales: PC 12 Dec 1893
The claimants had been imprisoned for many years before their convictions were quashed. They claimed compensation under the Act. The assessor said that there should be deducted from the award the living expenses they would have incurred if they had not been in prison. Held: The statutory scheme replaced an ex gratia scheme, and there … Continue reading Independent Assessor v O’Brien, Hickey, Hickey: CA 29 Jul 2004
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 appellants appealed their convictions on two grounds. First the judge who had heard the case was an acquaintance of the chief constable of the investigating force, and second evidence had been admitted of tape recordings of non-privileged conversations between defendants whilst in the police station. The Chief Constable had authorised the covert operation, and … Continue reading Mason, Wood, McClelland, Tierney v Regina: CACD 13 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
The case concerned an appeal following a demonstration. The Chief constable had made an order under section 60, anticipating serious violence. The respondent wore a mask, and the officer reached out to remove it. She hit out and broke his glasses. He did nothing to identify himself or the purpose of his action. Magistrates decided … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Avery: QBD 11 Oct 2001
The applicant had been detained pending extradition to the United States on charges of fraud. He said the evidence would not have been sufficient to justify his committal for trial. Held: The Francis case did not establish that the 1984 Act did not apply to extradition procceedings, and they might also be admissible under the … Continue reading In Re Levin; Regina v Governor of Brixton Prison, Ex parte Levin: HL 10 Apr 1997
Police officers questioning a publican after acquiring a suspicion of after hours drinking should have given the caution first and then interviewed him under the codes. Citations: Times 05-Mar-1998 Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice Code C Criminal Practice Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.78290
R was charged with burglary. He objected to the admission of evidence of a confession to a police officer, saying that it had been improperly obtained. Both prosecution and defence suggested the need for a voir dire, but the magistrates declined. Held: R’s request for a writ of mandamus succeeded. Once the parties accepted that … Continue reading Regina v Liverpool Juvenile Court ex parte R: 1988
Challenge to Intoximeter reading including acetone reading to be under s 78. Citations: Times 14-Jul-1995 Statutes: Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 69(1) 78 Road Traffic Updated: 17 May 2022; Ref: scu.77901
The claimants challenged the instruction that they must squat whilst undergoing a strip search in prison. A dog search had given cause to supect the presence of explosives in the wing, and the officers understood that such explosives might be hidden anally. Held: The common thread in all the cases has been the search to … Continue reading Regina v Carroll and Al-Hasan and Secretary of State for Home Department: Admn 16 Feb 2001
(Supreme Court of Canada) The court considered a claim to exercise the privilege against self-incrimination. Held: Whereas a compelled statement is evidence that would not have existed independently of the exercise of the powers of compulsion, evidence which exists independently of the compelled statements could have been found by other means and its quality does … Continue reading Thompson Newspapers Ltd v Director of Investigation and Research: 1990
The defendant was accused of importing heroin. He challenged use of his recorded interviews saying he was suffering hypoglycaemia from his diabetes at the time. The judge excluded later interviews for this reason, but the defendant challenged the use of the first few tapes since the doctor said he might be suffering in this way. … Continue reading Regina v Sat-Bhambra: CACD 1989
Staughton LJ discussed the admission against a defendant of the fact of a co-defendant’s conviction: ‘On the more general question whether, if objection had been taken under section 78, the evidence should have been excluded, we have paid particular attention to the observation in Curry [(unreported, April 28, 1998, CA)], ‘where the evidence expressly or … Continue reading Regina v Kempster: CACD 1990
W faced a charge of robbery. At the police station on arrest he was first refused access to a solicitor. The police conceded that the refusal was a breach of s58, and that the officer had failed to record the interview as required, and to give an opportunity to read and sign the interview record … Continue reading Regina v Walsh (Gerald Frederick): CACD 1990
The court distinguished the test of the admissibility of evidence of similar facts from the criteria according to which the court should exercise its discretion to exclude such evidence. He said that the test of admissibility was the same in civil and in criminal cases. Judges: Warner J Citations: [1984] 1 WLR 625 Jurisdiction: England … Continue reading Berger v Raymond Sun Ltd: 1984
The plaintiff sought damages from the loss of a diamond deposited with the defendant bank as security. He asked to present evidence about the experience of another customer who had lost jewellery he had deposited with it. Held: The proposed evidence was admissible. (Lawton LJ) If a defendant in this class of case said ‘My … Continue reading Sattin v National Union Bank Ltd: CA 21 Feb 1978
The court rejected a submission that, in a civil claim, sections 76 to 78 PACE precluded reliance altogether upon any evidence by an interview undertaken without a prior caution. Those exclusionary provisions were confined, the Court made clear, to criminal proceedings. However: ‘1. Were the court to be satisfied that answers had been obtained by … Continue reading Ghulam Yasim v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA 1996
An application to extradite a former head of state for an offence which was not at the time an offence under English law would fail, but could proceed in respect of allegations of acts after that time. No immunity was intended for heads of state. International law prohibiting torture has the character of jus cogens … Continue reading Regina v Bartle and Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Others, ex parte Pinochet Ugarte; Regina v Evans and Similar (No 3): HL 24 Mar 1999
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
A police officer searched premises under a warrant seizing documents of a trust corporation managed by the occupier. The trustees sought return of the documents or, alternatively, copies of them. The police believed that the documents were evidence of a widespread fraud and that the documents were crucial to their investigations and that the investigation … Continue reading Arias and Others v Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police and Another: CA 1 Aug 1984
Delaney was 18 and with a low IQ. On first interview for indecent assault, he denied the offence, but later came to admit it. The police admitted first minimising the seriousness of the offence, but he alleged greater pressure, resulting in a later confession. The first interview was not recorded until the following day. Held: … Continue reading Regina v Delaney: CACD 11 Jan 1990
Section 78 is properly applied in committal proceedings. Examining justices could exclude the evidence from their consideration only if satisfied that its admission at the trial would be so obviously unfair to the proceedings that no judge properly directing himself could admit it. Even in such a case it would generally be far better to … Continue reading Regina v King’s Lynn Justices, Ex parte Holland: QBD 1993
1. The respondent’s instructions and guidance to immigration officers correctly reflect the operation of sections 66 and 67 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and of the Immigration (PACE Codes of Practice) Direction 2013, in drawing a distinction between administrative enquiries and formal criminal enquiries. The fact that immigration officers have powers … Continue reading Elsakhawy (Immigration Officers: Pace) Egypt: UTIAC 30 Jan 2018
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
