The defendant had been convicted of offences under the Insolvency Act. Evidence of his gambling was found in cheque stubs, bank statements, returned cheques and a betting file containing loose gambling statements by way of computer print outs produced by Ladbrokes and a bookmaker’s schedule of gambling transactions. The bankrupt had not contributed himself to any of these documents. He was required to produce these documents to the Official Receiver under the provisions of section 291 of the Insolvency Act which carried with it the sanction of proceedings for contempt of court punishable with up to two years imprisonment under sub-section (6) of that section. He handed them over. The question was, whether the admission of such documents was unfair, when they did not, themselves, contain statements obtained from the defendant under compulsion.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal against an order allowing the claim for privilege succeeded. The privilege against self-incrimination was not absolute, and assorted statutes had infringed that right. The Saunders case at the ECHR had distinguished between statements obtained from the accused, and documents, and other material, which were independent of the statement. That distinction was appropriate, and the use of such documents did not infringe the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
Rose LJ VP, Rougier LJ, McCombe LJ
Times 12-Apr-2001, Gazette 01-Jun-2001, [2001] 1 WLR 1879, [2001] 2 CAR 19, [2001] EWCA Crim 888, [2001] BPIR 953, [2001] 2 Cr App R 19, [2001] 2 CAR 19, [2001] HRLR 41, [2001] Crim LR 736
Bailii
Insolvency Act 1986 291 (1)(b), European Convention on Human Rights 6
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Regina v Khan (Attorney-General’s Reference No 7 of 2000); Same v Saunders (AG Ref 10 of 2000); Same v Paul (AG Ref 9 of 2000); Same v Wakelin (AG Ref 8 of 2000) CACD 15-Jun-2000
Robbery committed on public transport, against young persons, will lead to a custodial sentence, save in wholly exceptional circumstances. There is a need to provide deterrence, for what has become a common crime. Sentences of between twelve and . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Kearns CACD 22-Mar-2002
The defendant had failed to account for the disappearance of a substantial part of his estate to the official receiver following his bankruptcy. He appealed his conviction for failing to provide an account, saying that the requirement to provide . .
Cited – C Plc and W v P and Secretary of State for the Home Office and the Attorney General ChD 26-May-2006
cplc_pChD2006
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 . .
Cited – C Plc v P and Attorney General Intervening CA 22-May-2007
The respondent had been subject to a civil search, which revealed the existence of obscene images of children on his computer. He appealed against refusal of an order that the evidence should not be passed to the police as evidence. He said that the . .
Cited – Regina v S and A CACD 9-Oct-2008
The defendant appealed against his conviction under the 2000 Act for failing to disclose the key used to encrypt a computer file. He was subject to a control order as a suspected terrorist. As the police raided his house, they found the key had been . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Evidence, Human Rights
Leading Case
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.78015