The jurisdiction to stay criminal proceedings on the ground of delay is exceptional, even where the delay was unjustifiable, and a stay should rarely be imposed in the absence of any fault on the part of the complainant or prosecution, and should never be imposed where the delay was due merely to the complexity of the case or was caused or contributed to by the actions of the defendant himself. Furthermore, a stay ought not to be imposed unless the defendant showed on the balance of probabilities that owing to the delay he would suffer serious prejudice to the extent that no fair trial could be held and that the continuance of the prosecution amounted to a misuse of process.
Lord Lane CJ
Gazette 03-Jun-1992, [1992] 3 All ER 169, [1992] QB 630, [1992] 95 Crim App 296
England and Wales
Cited by:
Distinguished – Regina v Chichester Justices ex parte Stephen Alexander Crowther Admn 14-Oct-1998
The defendant sought judicial review of an order made in 1998 issuing a warrant for his committal for failure to pay a confiscation order made in 1991. He had served 6 years imprisonment, and in default of payment a further 18 months. He was . .
Followed – Attorney General’s Reference (No 2 of 2001) CACD 12-Jul-2001
When assessing whether the defendant’s right to a trial within a reasonable time had been infringed, the court should look as from the date at which he was charged, or served with a summons, and not from the date of the first interview. Although a . .
Cited – Regina v S (Crime: delay in prosecution) CACD 6-Mar-2006
The defendant appealed his conviction saying that the prosecution should have been stayed permanently because of the delay in bringing the case. He had been sentenced to 7 years imprisonment for sexual assaults committed in the 1970s.
Held: A . .
Cited – Ali, Altaf v Crown Prosecution Service, West Midlands CACD 22-Mar-2007
The defendant was first arrested in 1997, but only re-arrested in 2004. He complained that the delay affected his right to a fair trial within a proper time. The judge accepted this but the trial proceeded, the judge denying a claim of abuse of . .
Applied – Tan Soon Yin v Judge Cameron and Another PC 1992
The power at common law to impose a stay on a criminal matter is discretionary, and a stay ‘should only be employed in exceptional circumstances’.
The task for the courts is to decide: ‘whether, in all the circumstances, the situation created . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Natural Justice
Leading Case
Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.77957