Category: Criminal Practice

Regina v Zielinski: CACD 2007

Though a judge’s good character direction may be deficient the conviction may yet be safe.

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Crim 704

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Moustakim, Regina v CACD 27-Nov-2008
Appeal from conviction of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug of Class A, that is to say cocaine. Challenge to good character direction ‘You know from the officer that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 31 December 2022; Ref: scu.652306

Constable v The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS): Admn 3 Jul 2020

Renewed application for permission to challenge the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute two people for offences of fraud and for an offence of conspiracy to defraud. The applicant contends that this decision was perverse to the extent that no reasonable prosecutor could have reached it.

Judges:

Mrs Justice Cutts DBE

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 1760 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 31 December 2022; Ref: scu.652240

Lewis, Regina v: CACD 5 Dec 2013

The appellant was to be tried at the Crown court, facing one either way offence and other summary offences. The indictable offence was withdrawn. He now said that the Crown Court had not had jurisdiction to proceed.
Held: Once an indictment was correctly preferred and signed, it remain valid.

Judges:

McCombe LJ, Griffith Williams J, Judge Goss QC

Citations:

[2013] EWCA Crim 2596, [2014] WLR(D) 38, [2014] 1 Cr App R 25, [2014] 1 WLR 2027

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1988 40

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 December 2022; Ref: scu.535474

Anderson v The Queen: PC 13 Jul 1971

(Jamaica) A appealed his conviction of murder. Juries are not free, on the other hand, uncritically to reject unchallenged expert evidence on a matter calling for scientific expertise.

Citations:

[1971] UKPC 25, [1971] 3 WLR 718, [1971] 3 All ER 76, [1972] AC 100

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Commonwealth

Cited by:

Cited – Brennan v Regina CACD 21-Nov-2014
The defendant, then 22 had a history of disturbed childhood, sexual abuse and outpatient mental health treatment together with one instance when he was sectioned following a suicide attempt. On the undisputed psychiatric evidence he suffered from a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.444466

Regina v Abdroikof, Regina v Green; Regina v Williamson: HL 17 Oct 2007

The House was asked whether a jury in criminal trials containing variously a Crown Prosecution Service solicitor, or a police officer would have the appearance of bias. In Abdroikof, the presence of the police officer on the jury was discovered only late, but there was no conflict over police evidence. In Green the victim was an officer from the same borough as the juror whose status as a police officer was only discovered after trial. In Williamson, the juror had served with the Crown Prosecution service for many years.
Held: Actual bias is always hard to prove, and was not alleged here, but the appearance of bias was also generally unacceptable. Parliament having decided that peope involved in the criminal processes should be jurors, the courts should accept that so far as was consistent with the duty to ensure a fair trial. The cases involving the police officer victim, and the CPS solicitor were remitted for the convictions to be quashed.
Lord Bingham allowed two of the appeals saying: ‘the safeguards established to protect the impartiality of the jury, when properly operated, do all that can reasonably be done to neutralise the ordinary prejudices and predilections to which we are all prone. But this does not meet the central thrust of the case . . that these cases do not involve the ordinary prejudices and predilections to which we are all prone but the possibility of bias (possibly unconscious) which, as he submits, inevitably flows from the presence on a jury of persons professionally committed to one side only of an adversarial trial process.’ Baroness Hale agreed.
Lord Rodger dismissed the appeals: ‘The reality therefore is that the jury system operates, not because those who serve are free from prejudice, but despite the fact that many of them will harbour prejudices of various kinds when they enter the jury box.’ Lord Carswell agreed.
Lord Mance said, agreeing with Lord Bingham and Baroness Hale: ‘the fair-minded and informed observer is him or herself in large measure the construct of the court. Individual members of the public, all of whom might claim this description, have widely differing characteristics, experience, attitudes and beliefs which could shape their answers on issues such as those before the court, without their being easily cast as unreasonable. The differences of view in the present case illustrate the difficulties of attributing to the fair-minded and informed observer the appropriate balance between on the one hand complacency and naivety and on the other cynicism and suspicion. ‘

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Carswell, Lord Mance

Citations:

[2007] UKHL 37, Times 08-Nov-2007, [2007] 1 WLR 2679, [2008] 1 Cr App R 21, [2008] Crim LR 134, [2008] 1 All ER 315, (2007) 151 SJLB 1365

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Abdroikov and Others CACD 28-Jul-2005
The defendants appealed against their convictions, saying that the presence of police officers on the jury suggested bias.
Held: The court rejected the suggestion that police officers should, because of their occupation, be automatically . .
Cited – Regina v Barnsley Licensing Justices, Ex parte Barnsley and District Licensed Victuallers’ Association 1960
Even though a person may in good faith believe that he was acting impartially, his mind may unconsciously be affected by a bias. Devlin LJ said: ‘Bias is or may be an unconscious thing and a man may honestly say that he was not actually biased and . .
Cited – Metropolitan Properties Company (FGC) Limited v Lannon 11-Jul-1968
Tenants of apartments asked the Rent Officer to fix the fair rents. On appeal, the rents were then set at a rate lower even than they had requested. The rents would serve as a guide for other local rents. The landlords now complained that the . .
Cited – Lawal v Northern Spirit Limited HL 19-Jun-2003
Counsel appearing at the tribunal had previously sat as a judge with a tribunal member. The opposing party asserted bias in the tribunal.
Held: The test in Gough should be restated in part so that the court must first ascertain all the . .
Cited – Delcourt v Belgium ECHR 17-Jan-1970
The applicant had failed in appeals against conviction and sentence for offences of fraud and forgery before the Belgian Cour de Cassation. He complained that he had not enjoyed the right to a fair trial recognised by Article 6(1) of the Convention . .
Cited – Regina v Gough (Robert) HL 1993
The defendant had been convicted of robbery. He appealed, saying that a member of the jury was a neighbour to his brother, and there was therefore a risk of bias. This was of particular significance as the defendant was charged with conspiracy with . .
Cited – 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 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 . .
Cited – Hauschildt v Denmark ECHR 24-May-1989
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Preliminary objection rejected (non-exhaustion); Violation of Art. 6-1; Pecuniary damage – claim rejected; Non-pecuniary damage – finding of violation sufficient; . .
Cited – Pullar v The United Kingdom ECHR 10-Jun-1996
The applicant P was an elected councillor. He faced a charge of corruption, being said to have have offered, for reward, to support a planning application made by M, a partner in a firm of architects, and C, a partner in a firm of quantity . .
Cited – Meerabux v The Attorney General of Belize PC 23-Mar-2005
(Belize) The applicant complained at his removal as a justice of the Supreme Court, stating it was unconstitutional. The complaint had been decided by a member of the Bar Council which had also recommended his removal, and he said it had been . .
Cited – Rex v Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy KBD 9-Nov-1923
Clerk wrongly retired with Justices
There had been a prosecution before the lay magistrates for dangerous driving. Unknown to the defendant and his solicitors, the Clerk to the Justices was a member of the firm of solicitors acting in a civil claim against the defendant arising out of . .
Cited – Porter and Weeks v Magill HL 13-Dec-2001
Councillors Liable for Unlawful Purposes Use
The defendant local councillors were accused of having sold rather than let council houses in order to encourage an electorate which would be more likely to be supportive of their political party. They had been advised that the policy would be . .
Cited – Pintori, Regina v CACD 13-Jul-2007
The defendant appealed his conviction for possession of class A drugs, saying that the drugs found had belonged to somebody who had stayed at his flat whilst he had been away. One of the jurors later told a police officer that she had known through . .
Cited – Regina v Hayter HL 3-Feb-2005
The House considered the principle that the confession of a defendant is inadmissible in a joint criminal case against a co-defendant. In a trial for murder, one party was accused of requesting a middleman to arrange for the murder by a third party. . .
Appeal from – Regina v Abdroikov and Others CACD 28-Jul-2005
The defendants appealed against their convictions, saying that the presence of police officers on the jury suggested bias.
Held: The court rejected the suggestion that police officers should, because of their occupation, be automatically . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Khan and Hanif CACD 14-Mar-2008
Each defendant appealed against his conviction saying that the presence on the jury of certain people involved in the law gave the appearance of bias.
Held: The court should be made aware if any potential juror either is or has been a police . .
Cited – Rule 3, Application- Only v North Glamorgan NHS Trust EAT 12-Mar-2008
EAT Practice and Procedure – Appellate jurisdiction/reasons/Burns-Barke
Bias
There is no practical utility in hearing interim appeals against pre-hearing orders and bias when the EAT has already . .
Cited – Yemoh and Others v Regina CACD 22-May-2009
The defendants appealed saying that the judge had failed to disclose that a jury member was a serving police officer, and also complained of the judge’s directions on the ‘fundamentally different’ test applicable to cases of murder and manslaughter. . .
Cited – Tibbetts v The Attorney General of The Cayman Islands PC 24-Mar-2010
(Cayman Islands) The defendant appealed against his conviction for money laundering, alleging apparent bias in a juror who was said to have been acquainted with one witness.
Held: The appeal failed. The juror had correctly replied to the . .
Cited – Regina v Burdett and Another CACD 12-Feb-2009
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 . .
Cited – Kaur, Regina (on The Application of) v Institute of Legal Executives Appeal Tribunal and Another CA 19-Oct-2011
The claimant appealed against rejection of judicial review of a finding that she had effectively cheated at a professional examination for the Institute. She compained that the presence of a director and the council’s vice-president of the Institute . .
Explained – Regina v LL CACD 2011
It came to light that at the trial of the appellant that one juror was a current employee of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in general administrative duties, another was a serving police officer in an administrative and non-operational role, . .
Cited – O’Neill v Her Majesty’s Advocate No 2 SC 13-Jun-2013
The appellants had been convicted of murder, it being said that they had disposed of her body at sea. They now said that the delay between being first questioned and being charged infringed their rights to a trial within a reasonable time, and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Human Rights

Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.259908

Regina v Khan and Hanif: CACD 14 Mar 2008

Each defendant appealed against his conviction saying that the presence on the jury of certain people involved in the law gave the appearance of bias.
Held: The court should be made aware if any potential juror either is or has been a police or prison officer or worked with the CPS. The presence of such a person on a jury would not lead to an automatic assumption of the appearance of unfairness, but this would vary according to the case. A case involving the challenging of evidence given by police officers might require a different approach, but not where an officer had been involved in similar cases.

Judges:

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Chief Justice, Sir Igor Judge, President, and Mr Justice Silber

Citations:

Times 09-May-2008, [2008] EWCA Crim 531, [2008] 2 Cr App R 13, [2008] 2 Cr App R 161, [2008] 3 All ER 502, [2008] Crim LR 641

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Rex v Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy KBD 9-Nov-1923
Clerk wrongly retired with Justices
There had been a prosecution before the lay magistrates for dangerous driving. Unknown to the defendant and his solicitors, the Clerk to the Justices was a member of the firm of solicitors acting in a civil claim against the defendant arising out of . .
Cited – Regina v Gough (Robert) HL 1993
The defendant had been convicted of robbery. He appealed, saying that a member of the jury was a neighbour to his brother, and there was therefore a risk of bias. This was of particular significance as the defendant was charged with conspiracy with . .
Cited – Gregory v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Feb-1997
gregory_ukECHR1997
A judge’s direction to the jury to disregard any question of racial bias was sufficient to ensure a fair trial for the defendant. In discussing the protection of the secrecy of jury deliberations: ‘The court acknowledges that the rule governing the . .
Cited – Regina v Dundon CMAC 18-Mar-2004
The defendant had been convicted under a system of trial later confirmed not to be compliant with the need for a fair trial.
Held: The judge advocate in this trial had been a serving officer. Unless the positive obligation to show an . .
Cited – Regina v Abdroikof, Regina v Green; Regina v Williamson HL 17-Oct-2007
The House was asked whether a jury in criminal trials containing variously a Crown Prosecution Service solicitor, or a police officer would have the appearance of bias. In Abdroikof, the presence of the police officer on the jury was discovered only . .

Cited by:

Cited – Yemoh and Others v Regina CACD 22-May-2009
The defendants appealed saying that the judge had failed to disclose that a jury member was a serving police officer, and also complained of the judge’s directions on the ‘fundamentally different’ test applicable to cases of murder and manslaughter. . .
Cited – Tibbetts v The Attorney General of The Cayman Islands PC 24-Mar-2010
(Cayman Islands) The defendant appealed against his conviction for money laundering, alleging apparent bias in a juror who was said to have been acquainted with one witness.
Held: The appeal failed. The juror had correctly replied to the . .
Cited – Regina v Burdett and Another CACD 12-Feb-2009
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.266179

Moustakim, Regina v: CACD 27 Nov 2008

Appeal from conviction of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug of Class A, that is to say cocaine. Challenge to good character direction ‘You know from the officer that the defendant is aged 42 and you know Mrs Lieden and the defendant that she has no convictions in this or any country, she therefore falls to be dealt with by you as a defendant of good character. Now, how does that impact upon her trial?
Well, a defendant of good character is entitled to say that I am as worthy of belief as anyone, so in the first place it goes to the question of whether or not you believe Mrs Moustakim’s account. Secondly, she is entitled to have it argued on her behalf that she is perhaps less likely than a defendant of bad character to have committed this or any criminal offence. Good character is not a defence to a criminal charge. We all start life with a good character, some of us lose it on our way through, and it will be for you to decide what weight is proper to put upon this lady’s good character when you come to consider the evidence which is your principal focus.’
Held: The direction was inadequate. Since the appellant’s character was a central issue in the case this conviction had to be regarded as unsafe.
The direction in the present case was inadequate because:
1. There is no explicit positive direction that the jury should take the appellant’s good character into account in her favour.
2. The judge’s version of the first limb of the direction did not say that her good character supported her credibility. The judge only said that she was entitled to say that she was as worthy of belief as anyone. It went, he said, to the question whether the jury believed her account.
3. The judge’s version of the second limb of the direction did not say that her good character might mean that she was less likely than otherwise might be the case to commit the crime. He said that she was entitled to have it argued that she was perhaps less likely to have committed the crime. The use of the word ‘perhaps’ is a significant dilution of the required direction.
4. In the judge’s direction each limb is expressed as what the defendant is entitled to say or argue, not as it should have been a direction from the judge himself.’

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Crim 3096

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Vye etc CACD 7-Apr-1993
Detailed guidance was given on good character directions, as to how and when they should be given, but: ‘Provided that the judge indicates to the jury the two respects in which good character may be relevant, ie credibility and propensity, this . .
Cited – Regina v Lloyd CACD 2000
The court in Lloyd was concerned with character directions which had been given in the form of questions.
Held: The conviction was unsafe. Good character directions should not be given in the form of a question, they should be given in the . .
Cited – Regina v Zielinski CACD 2007
Though a judge’s good character direction may be deficient the conviction may yet be safe. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.406598

AB, Regina v: CANI 9 May 2007

Appeal brought by the prosecution, under Article 17 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 against a ruling staying proceedings in the retrial of the respondent.

Judges:

Campbell and Higgins LJJ and Weatherup J

Citations:

[2007] NICA 18

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Criminal Practice

Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.253566

Ramadan El-Delbi, Regina v: CACD 20 Jun 2003

The court considered an appeal where the jury had been invited to draw an inference from the defendant’s silence at interview that the defendant ‘had not had a chance to prepare his story’ as being its equivalent.
Held: The court accepted the inference as proper in the circumstances.

Citations:

[2003] EWCA Crim 1767

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice nd Public Order Act 1994 34

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Petkar and Farquar, Regina v CACD 16-Oct-2003
The defendants appealed their convictions and sentence for theft. Whilst employed by a bank thay had arranged for transfers to their own account. Each blamed the other. They appealed on the basis that the direction on their silence at interview was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 20 December 2022; Ref: scu.184269

Regina v Harper-Taylor and Bakker: CA 19 Feb 1988

There had been a prolonged discussion, ranging over a wide field in the judge’s room: ‘Since we regard the discussion in the judge’s room as the source of all the subsequent entanglements, some general observations on the practice of meeting the judge in his private room may be appropriate. A first principle of criminal law is that justice is done in public, for all to see and hear. By this standard a meeting in the judge’s room is anomalous: the essence, and indeed the purpose, being that neither the defendant nor the jury nor the public are there to hear what is going on. Undeniably, there are circumstances where the public must be excluded. Equally, the jury cannot always be kept in court throughout. The withdrawal of the proceedings into private, without even the defendant being there, is another matter. It is true, as this court stated in Turner that there must be freedom of access between counsel and the judge when there are matters calling for communications or discussions of such a nature that counsel cannot in the interests of his client mention them in open court. Criminal trials are so various that a list of situations where an approach to the judge is permissible would only mislead; but it must be clear that communications should never take place unless there is no alternative. ‘ and ‘Apart from the question of principle, seeing the judge in private creates risks of more than one kind, as the present case has shown. The need to solve an immediate practical problem may combine with the more relaxed atmosphere of the private room to blur the formal outlines of the trial. Again, if the object of withdrawing the case from open court is to maintain a degree of confidence, as it plainly must be, there is room for misunderstanding about how far the confidence is to extend; and, in particular, there is a risk that counsel and solicitors for the other parties may hear something said to the judge which they would rather not hear, putting them into a state of conflict between their duties to their clients, and their obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the private room.’ and ‘The absence of the defendant is also a potential source of trouble. He has to learn what the judge has said at second hand, and may afterwards complain (rightly or not) that he was not given an accurate account. Equally, he cannot hear what his counsel has said to the judge, and hence cannot intervene to correct a mis-statement or an excess of authority: a factor which may not only be a source of unfairness to the defendant, but which may also deprive the prosecution of the opportunity to contend that admissions made in open court in the presence of the client and not repudiated by him may be taken to have been made with his authority.’

Judges:

Mustill LJ

Citations:

Unreported, 19 February 1988

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Turner CACD 1970
The court considered an appeal where the defendant had entered a plea of guilty but had felt himself under undue pressure from the judge.
Held: The court urged caution in the practice of counsel seeing the judge in his chambers, though . .

Cited by:

Cited – Lobban, Regina v CACD 7-May-2004
The defendant appealed his conviction. A witness statement had been read, but he had wanted to cross examine her. The court was satisfied that her refusal to give evidence in person was through fear.
Held: In making the decision, the judge had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 December 2022; Ref: scu.199780

Regina (on the Application of) Snelgrove v the Crown Court at Woolwich, and the Crown Prosecution Service: Admn 29 Sep 2004

The claimant awaited trial for GBH. The claimant sought judicial review of directions given for 1) to direct disclosure of material to the claimant; 2) to adjourn the application to enable him to call oral evidence; 3) to consider any material outside the copy witness statements relied upon by the prosecution; and 4) to dismiss the charge against him pursuant to paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
Held: The decisions were within the rules.

Judges:

Mr Justice Richards, Lord Justice Auld

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 2172 (Admin), [2005] 1 Cr App R 18, [2005] 1 WLR 3223

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Offences Against the Person Act 1861 18

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – In re Smalley HL 1985
Challenge by a surety to an estreatment of his recognizance was not a matter relating to a trial on indictment for the purpose of section 29(3) because it did not affect the conduct of the trial. A sensible legislative purpose can be seen for . .

Cited by:

Cited – Serious Fraud Office v Evans and Others QBD 14-Nov-2014
The court faced an application by the SFO for a voluntary bill of indictment. Similar charges against the defendants had been discharged. The allegations involved very substantial alleged frauds. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 December 2022; Ref: scu.214676

Birse v HM Advocate: HCJ 28 Jun 2000

Where a magistrate had heard a proper description of the reasons for granting a search warrant, it was not an abuse of the suspect’s human rights to execute it, even though he had not had chance to make any representations about the search. The right to an effective remedy was not to be enshrined in UK law, and this came close to such a claim.

Citations:

Times 28-Jun-2000

Jurisdiction:

Scotland

Human Rights, Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 December 2022; Ref: scu.78422

Regina v Central Criminal Court Ex Parte Guney: CA 2 Feb 1995

A defendant is deemed to have surrendered to court custody when attending as directed; a surety was not estreated when he failed to attend at a later hearing after an adjournment.
Sir Thomas Bingham MR (dissenting) said that there is nothing in the process of arraignment which in law requires, or in fact amounts to, a surrender to the custody of the court.
Sir Peter Gibson LJ said: ‘In my judgment a surrender to the custody of the court occurs when a defendant on bail and under a duty so to surrender is required to attend the court and responds by attending the court and overtly subjecting himself to the directions of the court. This he does at the latest when he is arraigned at the commencement of the trial, but he may do so earlier.’
Sir Michael Mann said that ‘Arraignment provides a clearly identifiable moment of surrender (which may, however, in some cases occur earlier).’

Judges:

Sir Thomas Bingham MR, Sir Peter Gibson LJ, Sir Michael Mann

Citations:

Gazette 08-Mar-1995, Times 03-Feb-1995, Independent 02-Feb-1995, [1995] 1 WLR 576

Statutes:

Bail Act 1946 3, Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 128

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Regina v Central Criminal Court Ex Parte Guney QBD 1-Feb-1994
An arraignment was valid despite non attendance at court, and the surety’s duties were not terminated. Arraignment in absence if defendant is not a surrender to custody for bail. . .
Appealed to – Regina v Central Criminal Court Ex Parte Guney HL 10-May-1996
The defendant was given bail supported by sureties for his attendance. The appellant signed for andpound;1m for his attendance. There was a preparatory hearing at a new court building without cells or a dock. The defendant was present. The surety . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v Central Criminal Court Ex Parte Guney HL 10-May-1996
The defendant was given bail supported by sureties for his attendance. The appellant signed for andpound;1m for his attendance. There was a preparatory hearing at a new court building without cells or a dock. The defendant was present. The surety . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.86313

Regina v Leadbeater: 1988

The Judge was invited by both prosecution and defence to rule in advance of the case being opened whether there was a case to answer. He ruled that there was. The Defendant thereupon pleaded guilty. He appealed.
Held: The appeal failed. The cases in which it would be proper to rule on a submission of no case to answer before the end of the prosecution case were rare, and largely to be found where there was an objection to jurisdiction or an agreed statement of facts.

Citations:

[1988] Crim LR 463

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – N Ltd and Another, Regina v CACD 10-Jun-2008
The defence had requested and been give a ruling of no case to answer. The prosecutor now appealed saying that this had been before he had closed the prosecution case, and had been not with his consent.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.652236

Regina v Griffiths: 1981

The Judge had purported to strike out a number of cases on the ground that prosecuting counsel was not immediately in court when they were called on. He then ordered that verdicts of ‘not guilty’ be entered. The Crown obtained voluntary bills of indictment. When arraigned on those new indictments, the several defendants pleaded autrefois acquit. The Judges hearing the new proceedings ruled that that plea could not be made out, because what the first Judge had done was a nullity and had not resulted in any valid acquittal.
Held: The decisions were upheld. the Lord Chief Justice set out various ways in which an indictment can be disposed of without trial: by plea of guilty, by plea in bar, by a nolle prosequi entered by the Attorney General, by a verdict under section 17 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 consequent on the Crown offering no evidence, and by a stay on the ground of abuse of process. The purported direction that verdicts of ‘not guilty’ be entered was held to be a nullity.

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ

Citations:

(1981) 72 Cr App R 307

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1967 17

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – N Ltd and Another, Regina v CACD 10-Jun-2008
The defence had requested and been give a ruling of no case to answer. The prosecutor now appealed saying that this had been before he had closed the prosecution case, and had been not with his consent.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.652235

Regina v Panel of Takeovers and Mergers ex parte Fayed: CA 1992

Steyn LJ said of the reviewability of decisions of the Director of Public Prosecutions: ‘. . it seems to me that, in the absence of evidence of fraud, corruption or mala fides, judicial review will not be allowed to probe its decision to charge individuals in criminal proceedings. The law must take a practical view of the limits of judicial review. It would be unworkable to extend judicial review into this field.’
Neill LJ said that the court has a discretion to stay civil proceedings until related criminal proceedings have been determined: ‘It is clear that the court has power to intervene to prevent injustice where the continuation of one set of proceedings may prejudice the fairness of the trial of other proceedings . . But it ‘is a power which has to be exercised with great care and only where there is a real risk of serious prejudice which may lead to injustice.’

Judges:

Steyn LJ, Neill LJ

Citations:

[1992] BCC 524

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – JJ Manangement Llp and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Revenue and Customs and Another Admn 25-Jul-2019
Challenge to the lawfulness of an investigation by HMRC of tax affairs relating to the claimant’s businesses in Europe. HMRC had been claiming a right to conduct an informal investigation using the 2005 Act. The taxpayer sought judicial review of . .
Cited – JJ Management Consulting Llp and Others v Revenue and Customs CA 22-Jun-2020
HMRC has power to conduct informal investigation
The taxpayer, resident here, but with substantial oversea business interests, challenged the conduct of an informal investigation of his businesses under the 2005 Act, saying that HMRC, as a creature of statute, are only permitted to do that which . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Judicial Review, Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.651923

N Ltd and Another, Regina v: CACD 10 Jun 2008

The defence had requested and been give a ruling of no case to answer. The prosecutor now appealed saying that this had been before he had closed the prosecution case, and had been not with his consent.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. The Galbraith case did not suggest that the judge had the power he had taken. Such a ruling required either that the prosecution’s case had been formally closed, or that the effect of the prosecutor’s evidence had been agreed: ‘There is sound reason for the jurisdiction to entertain a submission that there is no case to answer to be exercised at the close of the Crown case. It is then that it is known for certain what the evidence actually is. Until then, the most that can be known is what it is expected to be. In the present case, whilst it was known what the witness statements said, it could not be known exactly how the evidence would come out. ‘

Judges:

Lord Justice Hughes, Mr Justice Teare and Mr Justice Saunders

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Crim 1223, Times 25-Aug-2008, [2009] 1 Cr App Rep 3, [2008] 1 WLR 2684

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Galbraith CCA 1981
Rejection of Submission of No Case to Answer
The defendant had faced a charge of affray. The court having rejected his submission of having no case to answer, he had made an exculpatory statement from the dock. He appealed against his conviction.
Held: Lord Lane LCJ said: ‘How then . .
Appeal pending – Chargot Ltd (T/A Contract Services) and Others, Regina v CACD 13-Dec-2007
The defendant company appealed against its conviction under the 1974 Act after a driver was buried under the load when his truck overturned on a work-site.
Held: The appeal failed. The policy of the 1974 Act was to impose a positive burden on . .
Cited – Regina v Chairman, London County Quarter Sessions, ex parte Downes 1953
The Judge had acceded to a defence submission of no case, made in advance of arraignment on the basis of the depositions, and had quashed the indictments.
Held: The Divisional Court granted an order of mandamus requiring the court to try the . .
Cited – Regina v Griffiths 1981
The Judge had purported to strike out a number of cases on the ground that prosecuting counsel was not immediately in court when they were called on. He then ordered that verdicts of ‘not guilty’ be entered. The Crown obtained voluntary bills of . .
Cited – Regina v Leadbeater 1988
The Judge was invited by both prosecution and defence to rule in advance of the case being opened whether there was a case to answer. He ruled that there was. The Defendant thereupon pleaded guilty. He appealed.
Held: The appeal failed. The . .
Cited – Regina v MacKenzie 1993
The defendant had been charged with two killings. The evidence depended on confessions he had made. He had, however, confessed also to twelve other killings, none of which the Crown believed he could have committed and at least some of which he . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 2 of 2000) CACD 23-Nov-2000
The defendant had faced a charge of possessing an offensive weapon, namely a rice flail. The judge invited the prosecution to reconsider the case before it started, but the case went ahead. After the jury was empanelled, but before the prosecutor . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.270458

Rex v Willace: 1797

The commencement of a prosecution was held to be ‘the information and proceeding before the magistrate’.

Citations:

(1797) 1 East PC 186

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Rockall v Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Admn 22-Mar-2007
The defendant appealed against his conviction under the Act, saying that the proceedings had been issued late. The issue was the calculation of the date when proceedings were begun.
Held: There was no justification for reading the wording of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Magistrates

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.258450

Bermingham and others v The Director of the Serious Fraud Office: QBD 21 Feb 2006

Prosecution to protect defendant not available

The claimants faced extradition to the US. They said that the respondent had infringed their human rights by deciding not to prosecute them in the UK. There was no mutuality in the Act under which they were to be extradited.
Held: The Director had a discretion as to whether to prosecute. He had no duty to consider the place of trial as a way of protecting the defendants’ human rights: ‘The request to investigate in effect invited the Director [of the Serious Fraud Office] to constitute himself the judge of the proper forum for the defendants’ trial and to decide the issue in favour of trial here and not the United States: and thereby to pre-empt the statutory extradition process. Such a function cannot conceivably be found in s. 1(3) of the [Criminal Justice Act 1987].’ The section created only a power to investigate. To take it further would be fanciful and would usurp the role of the judicary. As to the extraditions themselves the Home Secretary had no remaining discretion as to whether or not to authorise extradition. He had a duty to do so. The case had substantial connections with the US and was properly triable there.
In the absence of a wholly exceptional case, the court would not intervene to examine by way of judicial review a discretionary decision by the Director of the SFO to investigate or not to investigate fraud.

Judges:

Lord Justice Laws, Mr Justice Ouseley

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 200 (Admin), Times 24-Feb-2006, [2006] 3 All ER 239, [2007] QB 727, [2006] UKHRR 450, [2006] ACD 55, [2007] 2 WLR 635

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Extradition Act 2003 103 108, Criminal Justice Act 1987 1(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire HL 28-Apr-1987
No General ty of Care Owed by Police
The mother of a victim of the Yorkshire Ripper claimed in negligence against the police alleging that they had failed to satisfy their duty to exercise all reasonable care and skill to apprehend the perpetrator of the murders and to protect members . .
Cited – Regina v Sectretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Razgar etc HL 17-Jun-2004
The claimant resisted removal after failure of his claim for asylum, saying that this would have serious adverse consequences to his mental health, infringing his rights under article 8. He appealed the respondent’s certificate that his claim was . .
Cited – Regina v Special Adjudicator ex parte Ullah; Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 17-Jun-2004
The applicants had had their requests for asylum refused. They complained that if they were removed from the UK, their article 3 rights would be infringed. If they were returned to Pakistan or Vietnam they would be persecuted for their religious . .
Cited – Government of Canada v Aronson; Director of Public Prosecutions v Aronson HL 20-Jul-1989
The Canadian Government asked for the arrest of the defendant and for his return to Canada to face 78 allegations in Canada. The magistrate had determined that there was sufficient evidence in 66 cases. The detainee said that 69 offences were not . .
Cited – Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions, ex parte Kebilene and others HL 28-Oct-1999
(Orse Kebeline) The DPP’s appeal succeeded. A decision by the DPP to authorise a prosecution could not be judicially reviewed unless dishonesty, bad faith, or some other exceptional circumstance could be shown. A suggestion that the offence for . .

Cited by:

Cited – Ahmad and Aswat v United States of America Admn 30-Nov-2006
The defendants appealed orders for their extradition. They were suspected of terrorist offences, and feared that instead of facing a trial, they would be placed before a military commission.
Held: The appeals failed. The court had diplomatic . .
Cited – McKinnon v USA and Another Admn 3-Apr-2007
The defendant appealed an order for his extradition. He had used his computer in London to access remotely defence and other government computers in the USA, and deleted files and copied others onto his own computer. He had been offered a deal if he . .
Cited – Corner House Research and Campaign Against Arms Trade, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office and Another Admn 10-Apr-2008
The defendant had had responsibility to investigate and if necessary prosecute a company suspected of serious offences of bribery and corruption in the conduct of contract negotiations. The investigation had been stopped, alledgedly at the . .
Cited – Norris v United States of America and others HL 12-Mar-2008
The detainee appealed an order for extradition to the USA, saying that the offence (price-fixing) was not one known to English common law. The USA sought his extradition under the provisions of the Sherman Act.
Held: It was not, and it would . .
Cited – Corner House Research and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v The Serious Fraud Office HL 30-Jul-2008
SFO Director’s decisions reviewable
The director succeeded on his appeal against an order declaring unlawful his decision to discontinue investigations into allegations of bribery. The Attorney-General had supervisory duties as to the exercise of the duties by the Director. It had . .
Cited – McKinnon, Regina (On the Application of) v Secretary Of State for Home Affairs Admn 31-Jul-2009
Assurances for Extradition
Extradition of the defendant was sought to the US to face allegations of hacking into defence computers there. He said this would infringe his article 3 rights, saying that he suffered Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Held: The application failed. US . .
Cited – Norris v Government of United States of America SC 24-Feb-2010
The defendant faced extradition to the USA on charges of the obstruction of justice. He challenged the extradition on the basis that it would interfere with his article 8 rights to family life, given that the offence was merely ancillary, the result . .
Cited – BH and Another v The Lord Advocate and Another SC 20-Jun-2012
The appellants wished to resist their extradition to the US to face criminal charges for drugs. As a married couple that said that the extraditions would interfere with their children’s rights to family life.
Held: The appeals against . .
Cited – Shaw, Regina (on The Application of) v Cheshire Constabulary Admn 23-Jul-2015
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision not to prosecute, now renewing his application for leave.
Held: Leave was refused: ‘The police have investigated and have come to a conclusion. The courts have set their face against reviewing . .
Cited – JJ Management Consulting Llp and Others v Revenue and Customs CA 22-Jun-2020
HMRC has power to conduct informal investigation
The taxpayer, resident here, but with substantial oversea business interests, challenged the conduct of an informal investigation of his businesses under the 2005 Act, saying that HMRC, as a creature of statute, are only permitted to do that which . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Extradition, Criminal Practice, Human Rights

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.239881

Regina v Chairman, London County Quarter Sessions, ex parte Downes: 1953

The Judge had acceded to a defence submission of no case, made in advance of arraignment on the basis of the depositions, and had quashed the indictments.
Held: The Divisional Court granted an order of mandamus requiring the court to try the indictment, on the ground that there was no power to do what the Judge had done: ‘If this course were permissible, it would enable a court, the members of which disapproved of or disliked a statute, the breach of which formed the subject matter of the indictment, simply to quash it and decline to try it.’
Lord Goddard remarked that no member of the court had ever heard of the quashing of an indictment in such circumstances, nor could any authority be found to support it. That was notwithstanding the presence in the case of an array of extremely experienced criminal advocates.

Judges:

Lord Goddard CJ

Citations:

[1954] 1 QB 1, (1953) 37 Cr App R 148

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 2 of 2000) CACD 23-Nov-2000
The defendant had faced a charge of possessing an offensive weapon, namely a rice flail. The judge invited the prosecution to reconsider the case before it started, but the case went ahead. After the jury was empanelled, but before the prosecutor . .
Cited – N Ltd and Another, Regina v CACD 10-Jun-2008
The defence had requested and been give a ruling of no case to answer. The prosecutor now appealed saying that this had been before he had closed the prosecution case, and had been not with his consent.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.238127

Regina v Maxwell: HL 1990

The defendant had hired two men to enter his former partner’s house to commit robbery. It was his defence that he did not contemplate violence, and that he was only guilty of the offence of burglary. The prosecution would not add a count of burglary and opposed leaving that offence to the jury, maintaining that the crime was always intended to be a robbery, and that it was not a burglary which had gone wrong. The jury accepted this view.
Held: Lord Ackner: ‘on the facts of this case the judge was entitled to conclude that the alternative of theft was relatively so trifling that the jury’s attention upon the essential issue – did the appellant intend violence to be used? – should not be distracted.’ He opposed the view of Mustill LJ in the Court of Appeal. The test to be applied was: ‘What is required in any particular case, where the judge fails to leave an alternative offence to the jury, is that the court, before interfering with the verdict, must be satisfied that the jury may have convicted out of a reluctance to see the defendant get clean away with what, on any view, was disgraceful conduct. If they are so satisfied then the conviction cannot be safe or satisfactory.’

Judges:

Lord Ackner

Citations:

[1990] 1 WLR 401, (1990) 91 Cr App R 61, [1990] 1 All ER 801

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Regina v Maxwell CACD 1988
The defendant admitted paying two others to burgle his partner’s home, but said he had not anticipated violence, and appealed against his conviction for robbery, saying the judge should have left the alternative verdict to the jury. The jury, during . .
Reviewed – Regina v Fairbanks CACD 1986
The defendant complained that the judge had not left an alternate verdict of careless driving to the jury where he had been charged with driving a motor vehicle on the road recklessly.
Held: The conviction was quashed.
Mustill LJ said: . .

Cited by:

Cited – Sutton London Borough Council v S and Another QBD 26-Oct-2004
Parents had had charges brought against them by the appellant for failing to ensure the attendance of their child at school dismissed. The authority appealed.
Held: The authority should have considered more carefully whether it was appropriate . .
Cited – Coutts, Regina v CACD 21-Jan-2005
The defendant appealed his conviction for murder, saying that the judge should have left to the jury the alternative conviction for manslaughter. The victim had died through strangulation during a sexual assault by the defendant. He said it had not . .
Cited – Hunter, Moodie v The Queen PC 8-Oct-2003
PC (Jamaica) The defendants appealed against their convictions for capital murder.
Held: The appeals were allowed, and non-capital convictions substituted. It is not enough to comply with section 2(2), for . .
Cited – Regina v Coutts HL 19-Jul-2006
The defendant was convicted of murder. Evidence during the trial suggested a possibility of manslaughter, but neither the defence nor prosecution proposed the alternate verdict. The defendant now appealed saying that the judge had an independent . .
Cited – Regina v Abu Hamza CACD 28-Nov-2006
The defendant had faced trial on terrorist charges. He claimed that delay and the very substantial adverse publicity had made his fair trial impossible, and that it was not an offence for a foreign national to solicit murders to be carried out . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.220043

Regina v Hnedish: 1958

(Canada) ‘Having regard to all the implications involved in accepting the full impact of the Hammond decision [1941] 3 All ER 318 which can, I think, be summarised by saying that regardless of how much physical or mental torture or abuse has been inflicted on an accused to coerce him into telling what is true, the confession is admitted because it is in fact true regardless of how it was obtained, I cannot believe that the Hammond decision does reflect the final judicial reasoning of the English courts . . I do not see how under the guise of ‘credibility’ the court can transmute what is initially an inquiry as to the ‘admissibility’ of the confession into an inquisition of an accused. That would be repugnant to our accepted standards and principles of justice; it would invite and encourage brutality in the handling of persons suspected of having committed offences’

Judges:

Hall CJ

Citations:

[1958] 26 WWR 685

Jurisdiction:

Canada

Cited by:

Approved – Wong Kam-Ming v The Queen PC 20-Dec-1978
The voir dire system allows a defendant to give his evidence on the limited issues surrounding the circumstances under which his statement was made as to the admissibility of the confession, without infringing his right to elect not to give evidence . .
Cited – 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 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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.199969

Chief Constable of Leicestershire v M and Another: ChD 1988

The defendant had obtained money by fraud and used it to purchase property, which then increased in value.
Held: The police did not have any right based on the increase in value to found a claim for an injunction to prevent the defendant dealing with the money. The court referred to statutory provisions conferring powers on criminal courts in respect of suspected proceeds of crime: ‘The recent and detailed interventions of Parliament in this field suggest that the courts should not indulge in parallel creativity by the extension of general common law principles.’

Judges:

Hoffmann J

Citations:

[1989] 1 WLR 20, [1988] 3 All ER 1015

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Worcestershire County Council v Tongue, Tongue, and Tongue CA 17-Feb-2004
The defendants had been convicted of animal welfare offences, and banned from keeping animals. The claimant sought to enter the premises to remove animals, but were denied entry.
Held: The court had no power to make an order to allow access . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.199728

Regina v Angela Cannings: CACD 19 Jan 2004

The defendant had been convicted of murdering her children. The substance of the evidence against her was that on a medical expert. His evidence was disputed and later doubted.
Held: Appeal allowed. In general courts should be careful to convict solely on the basis of conflicting and disputed medical evidence.

Judges:

Mrs Justice Rafferty Lord Justice Judge Mr Justice Pitchers

Citations:

[2004] EWCA Crim 1, [2004] 1 FCR 193, Gazette 05-Feb-2004, [2004] 2 CAR 7

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Kent County Council v The Mother, The Father, B (By Her Children’s Guardian); Re B (A Child) (Disclosure) FD 19-Mar-2004
The council had taken the applicant’s children into care alleging that the mother had harmed them. In the light of the subsequent cases casting doubt on such findings, the mother sought the return of her children. She applied now that the hearings . .
Cited – In re LU (A Child); In re LB (A Child) (Serious Injury: Standard of Proof); re U (A Child) (Department for Education and Skills intervening) CA 14-May-2004
In each case, the other parent appealed care orders where she had been found to have injured her children. In each case the sole evidence was the injury to the child’s health and expert medical evidence. The cases were referred following the . .
Cited – A Local Authority v S and W and T By her Guardian FD 27-May-2004
A child had died. The father was accused and acquitted of murder by way of shaken baby syndrome. The local authority persisted with an application for care orders for the other children.
Held: ‘I do not claim to have divined truth. I have . .
Cited – Kai-Whitewind, Regina v CACD 3-May-2005
The defendant was convicted of infanticide and murder. The experts differed as to the cause of death. She appealed her conviction saying that the experts in effect cancelled each other out.
Held: Her appeal failed. The jury was entitled to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.192048

Pierens, Regina (on the Application of) v Customs and Excise: Admn 28 Jul 2003

The defendant appealed against an extension of the custody time limit.
Held: The Act provides against an extension where the prosecution has not acted with due speed. Here the delay in large part arose in one way or another at the request of the defence. The challenge failed.

Citations:

[2003] EWHC 1993 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 22(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.185644

Attorney General’s Guidelines on the Exercise by the Crown of its Right of Stand-by: 1989

Citations:

(1989) 88 Cr App R 123

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Andrews CACD 15-Oct-1998
Potential jurors should not be asked questions to test for bias, save in the most exceptional circumstances and where there was a possibility of a juror having a personal involvement; perhaps having a personal loss from the alleged crime. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.180564

Her Majesty’s Advocate and Another v Mcintosh: PC 5 Feb 2001

(From High Court of Justiciary (Scotland)) The defendant had been convicted of drug trafficking. He complained that the following confiscation order had infringed his human rights being based an assumption of guilt and which was incompatible with his article 6 rights. The first question was whether he remained a person ‘charged with a criminal offence’. The Court felt not. The application was not initiated by the complainant, could only be made after a conviction, and was part of the sentencing procedure,. The defendant was accused of no additional criminal activity, the statement lodged in support of an application for confiscation order was an accounting statement and not an accusation, the sum ordered did not be the profit from drug trafficking or any other offence, and the time order to be served in the case of default related to the failure, not to any underlying offence, any risk that matters referred to in the statement might be subject to a later charge, left a possibility of double jeopardy, and the proceedings and did not conclude in the verdict. The statutory scheme laid down by a democratically elected parliament should not be readily rejected. The sources of the assets was known to the defendant and a defendant explain them would not be faced with a court order.
Criminal confiscation proceedings do not amount to the bringing of a fresh criminal charge and thus Art. 6(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights is not directly engaged. However, a court is required to act with ‘scrupulous fairness’ in making its assessment for the purposes of a confiscation order. Further, the proceedings are designed to be fully adversarial, affording the accused every opportunity to challenge evidence against him and to call witnesses.

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Clyde, Lord Hutton

Citations:

Gazette 15-Feb-2001, Times 08-Feb-2001, [2001] 3 WLR 107, DRA No 12 of 2000, [2003] 1 AC 1078, [2001] UKPCD 1, [2001] 2 All ER 638, 2001 SC (PC) 89, [2001] 2 Cr App R 27, 2001 GWD 6-206, [2001] HRLR 20, 2001 SLT 304, 2001 SCCR 191, [2001] UKHRR 463

Links:

PC, PC, Bailii

Statutes:

Human Rights Act 1998, Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 1995 3(2)

Jurisdiction:

Scotland

Citing:

Appeal from – Mcintosh v HM Advocate HCJ 31-Oct-2000
An application for a confiscation order following a drugs trial, was subject to the requirement of a presumption of innocence. The assumptions required of a court under the Act as to the source of assets acquired by the convicted person violated . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Rezvi HL 24-Jan-2002
Having been convicted of theft, a confiscation order had been made against which the appellant appealed. The Court of Appeal certified a question of whether confiscation provisions under the 1988 Act were in breach of the defendant’s human rights. . .
Appealed to – Mcintosh v HM Advocate HCJ 31-Oct-2000
An application for a confiscation order following a drugs trial, was subject to the requirement of a presumption of innocence. The assumptions required of a court under the Act as to the source of assets acquired by the convicted person violated . .
Cited – Lloyd v Bow Street Magistrates Court Admn 8-Oct-2003
The defendant had been convicted and made subect to a confiscation order in 1996. A final order for enforcement was made in late 2002. The defendant said the delay in the enforcement proceedings was a breach of his right to a trial within a . .
Cited – Peacock, Re SC 22-Feb-2012
The defendant had been convicted of drugs offences, and sentenced under the 1994 Act. The gains he had made exceeded his then assets. Later he acquired further property honestly, and the Court now considered whether those assets could be taken to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Evidence, Human Rights, Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.163307

Regina v Vye etc: CACD 7 Apr 1993

Detailed guidance was given on good character directions, as to how and when they should be given, but: ‘Provided that the judge indicates to the jury the two respects in which good character may be relevant, ie credibility and propensity, this Court will be slow to criticise any qualifying remarks he may make based on the facts of the individual case.’
A defendant may call evidence of his own good character or other evidence ‘in disproof of his own guilt’ of the offence charged against him. It is incumbent on a trial judge to direct the jury as to the significance of a good character in relation to both credibility and the (un)likelihood of the defendant having committed the offence charged: ‘It might be thought that in such a case (where the defendant charged with murder admits manslaughter) a second limb direction would be little help to the jury.’
Lord Taylor CJ suggested that in murder/manslaughter cases the judge might properly stress that the jury would derive limited help from the absence of any propensity for violence.

Judges:

Lord Taylor CJ

Citations:

Gazette 07-Apr-1993, Independent 15-Apr-1993, [1993] 97 Cr App R 134, [1993] 1 WLR 471

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Randall (EP) CACD 21-Feb-2003
The defendant had been a co-accused on a charge of murder. He appealed saying the judge had incorrectly directed the jury on the relevance of his co-accused’s previous convictions for violence.
Held: The appeal was allowed. He should have been . .
Cited – Regina v Randall HL 18-Dec-2003
Two defendants accused of murder each sought to place blame for the victim’s death on the other. One sought to rely upon the other’s record of violence as evidence of his co-accused’s propensity to violence.
Held: The record was admissible. By . .
Applied – Thompson v The Queen PC 16-Feb-1998
(Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) When a defendant is of good character, ie has no convictions of any relevance or significance, he is entitled to the benefit of a good character direction from the judge when summing up to the jury, tailored to fit . .
Cited – Teeluck and John v The State PC 23-Mar-2005
(Trinidad and Tobago) The defendant appealed against his conviction saying that his defence had been incompetent in having failed to require the judge to give a good character direction to the jury.
Held: The appeal was allowed. Recent cases . .
Cited – Mantoor Ramdhanie and others v The State PC 15-Dec-2005
PC (Trinidad and Tobago) The defendant appealed his conviction, saying he had not been properly able to pur forward his evidence of good character. The judge had prevented the defence putting questions to show a . .
Considered – Regina v Cain CACD 1-Nov-1993
Three defendants faced the jury. One with and two without a good character. The criminal convictions of the second were made known by her to the jury. The first defendant now appealed complaining at the way the judge had given his directions.
Cited – Regina v Heath CACD 1-Feb-1994
The defendant complained that the judge had wrongly admitted details of past spent convictions. The judge had told the jury ‘entirely to ignore them as far as this case is concerned’.
Held: The convictions were ‘so lacking in significance to . .
Cited – Payton, Regina v CACD 26-May-2006
The defendant appealed a conviction of possession of 66 grams of cannabis with intent to supply. Also found were a large number of small bags and pounds 7,000 in cash. The defendant said the cannabis was for his personal use, and the equipment had . .
Cited – Mohammed, Regina v CACD 13-Jul-2005
The court granted permission to appeal against a conviction for murder on grounds that related to the judge’s summing up in respect of provocation: ‘Although Holley is a decision of the Privy Council and Morgan Smith a decision of the House of . .
Cited – GAI v Regina CACD 5-Oct-2012
The defendant’s appeal based on the absence of a good character direction had succeeded. The court now gave its reasons.
Held: After reviewing the authorities, the appeal succeeded: ‘the learned judge was wrong to find that the fact that . .
Cited – Regina v Gray CACD 30-Apr-2004
The court examined the authorities as to good chracter directions where a defendant had previous convictions. Rix LJ said: ‘In our judgment the authorities discussed above entitled us to state the following principles as applicable in this context: . .
Cited – Regina v Lloyd CACD 2000
The court in Lloyd was concerned with character directions which had been given in the form of questions.
Held: The conviction was unsafe. Good character directions should not be given in the form of a question, they should be given in the . .
Cited – Moustakim, Regina v CACD 27-Nov-2008
Appeal from conviction of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of a controlled drug of Class A, that is to say cocaine. Challenge to good character direction ‘You know from the officer that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.88223

Environment Agency, Regina (on The Application of) v Tapecrown Ltd: CACD 17 May 2018

Issue as to whether jurisdiction lies with the Court of Appeal Criminal Division or with the Administrative Court. If the court were to conclude that the Court of Appeal Criminal Division did not have jurisdiction, then it would have to reconstitute itself as the Administrative Court – counts of knowingly causing or permitting the operation of an unauthorised regulated facility and one count of operating a regulated facility at a site without a permit, in contravention of regulations 12 and 38 of the Environmental Planning (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

Citations:

[2018] EWCA Crim 1345, [2019] 1 WLR 3394

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Environmental Planning (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 12 38

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.651735

Regina v Criminal Cases Review Commission ex parte Pearson: 1999

The applicant was convicted of murder and her application for leave to appeal against conviction was dismissed. She later asked that her case be referred to the court of appeal on the ground of diminished responsibility, a ground not put forward earlier but now supported by a psychiatric report. In due course her case was transferred to the CCRC. Under section 9 it was not permitted to refer a case to the court of appeal unless it considered there was a ‘real possibility’ that the conviction would not be upheld. The CCRC declined to refer on the ground that there was no likelihood of the court of appeal receiving the new evidence. The applicant sought judicial review.
Held: The CCRC had rightly sought to anticipate whether there was a real possibility of the court of appeal receiving the new evidence, that there were no grounds for impugning its decision and that the application would therefore be dismissed. Lord Bingham referred to previous cases in which fresh evidence from the applicant himself had been considered.
Lord Bingham CJ said: ‘Thus the Commission’s power to refer under section 9 is exercisable only if it considers that if the reference were made there would be a real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld by the Court of Appeal. The exercise of the power to refer accordingly depends on the judgment of the Commission, and it cannot be too strongly emphasised that this is a judgment entrusted to the Commission and to no one else. Save in exceptional circumstances, the judgment must be made by the Commission, in a conviction case, on the ground of an argument or evidence which has not been before the court before, whether at trial, on application for leave to appeal or on appeal. In the absence of such exceptional circumstances, the Commission cannot therefore invite the court to review issues or evidence upon which there has already been a ruling. Resort to the Commission must ordinarily follow and not precede resort to the Court of Appeal.’ and ‘The ‘real possibility’ test prescribed in section 13(1)(a) of the 1995 Act as the threshold which the Commission must judge to be crossed before a conviction may be referred to the Court of Appeal is imprecise but plainly denotes a contingency which, in the Commission’s judgment, is more than an outside chance or a bare possibility but which may be less than a probability or a likelihood or a racing certainty. The Commission must judge that there is at least a reasonable prospect of a conviction, if referred, not being upheld. The threshold test is carefully chosen: if the Commission were almost automatically to refer all but the most obviously threadbare cases, its function would be mechanical rather than judgmental and the Court of Appeal would be burdened with a mass of hopeless appeals; if, on the other hand, the Commission were not to refer any case unless it judged the applicant’s prospect of success on appeal to be assured, the cases of some deserving applicants would not be referred to the Court and the beneficial object which the Commission was established to achieve would be to that extent defeated. The Commission is entrusted with the power and the duty to judge which cases cross the threshold and which do not.’

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill CJ

Citations:

[1999] 3 All ER 498, [2000] 1 Cr App R 141

Statutes:

Criminal Appeal Act 1995 9

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Gibson, Regina v CACD 11-Jan-2006
The defendant renewed has application for leave to appeal against his conviction for the murder of his daughter-in-law. The principle evidence against him was that of an accomplice. She had received letters to say that no further action would be . .
Applied – Dowsett v Criminal Cases Review Commission Admn 8-Jun-2007
The claimant had been convicted in 1993 of involvement in a murder. He had complained that the police had failed to disclose material which would have been of assistance to him. He had requested the Commission to take examine and pursue his appeal. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.237576

Regina (Bannister) v Guildford Crown Court: Admn 2004

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 221 (Admin)

Statutes:

Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 22(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina (Gibson and Another) v Winchester Crown Court QBD 24-Feb-2004
The defendant challenged extension of the custody time limit, saying that the prosecuting authorities had not acted with due diligence to take the case forward.
Held: Though the prosecutor had not acted as required, in this case the actual . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.194797

Regina v Riley: 1866

The court described the workings of the Act, saying that once the whole of the deposition is before the jury: ‘it will appear how far the suggested contradiction exists, and the absence of a particular statement may be explained by the context; or even if there is a discrepancy on the point, it may appear that it is only one minute point, and that in all the rest of the evidence there is perfect consistency, so that the general result of the comparison may be confirmation rather than contradiction.’

Judges:

Baron Channell

Citations:

(1866) 4 FandF 964

Statutes:

Criminal Procedure Act 1865

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Ali CACD 14-Nov-2003
The defendant appealed conviction and sentence for sexual assaults on young girls. He complained that the prosecution had been allowed to bring in evidence of previous consistent statements.
Held: The evidence of the mother had been admitted . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.187958

Attorney General’s Reference (No 2 of 2000): CACD 23 Nov 2000

The defendant had faced a charge of possessing an offensive weapon, namely a rice flail. The judge invited the prosecution to reconsider the case before it started, but the case went ahead. After the jury was empanelled, but before the prosecutor opened, the judge discharged the jury, saying that the defendant had a reasonable excuse for having the rice flail, and that the prosecution was bound to fail.
Held: The authorities were clear, and the judge did not have that power. Once a case reached the Crown Court, the defendant was to be arraigned and tried unless: I) on a motion to quash, the indictment was found defective; ii) the defendant successfully pleaded autrefois acquit or convict; iii) a nolle prosequi was entered by the Attorney General ; iv) The offence was not capable of being tried at the Crown Court; or v) the proceedings amounted to an abuse. None of these applied in this case, and: ‘The trial judge simply did not have the power to prevent the prosecution from calling evidence on the basis that he thought a conviction was unlikely.’

Judges:

Kennedy LJ

Citations:

Times 23-Nov-2000

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Middlesex Quarter Sessions, ex parte Director of Public Prosecutions QBD 1952
The court considered a trial on indictment where there was jurisdiction to try the offence charged. After pleas had been taken and counsel for the Crown had opened the prosecution case to the jury, the chairman intervened and directed the jury to . .
Cited – Regina v Chairman, London County Quarter Sessions, ex parte Downes 1953
The Judge had acceded to a defence submission of no case, made in advance of arraignment on the basis of the depositions, and had quashed the indictments.
Held: The Divisional Court granted an order of mandamus requiring the court to try the . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Humphrys HL 1977
Humphrys was charged with driving while disqualified. The issue was the correctness of the identification by a police constable. In evidence, Humphrys denied that he was the driver, or indeed that he had driven any car during the year in question. . .

Cited by:

Cited – N Ltd and Another, Regina v CACD 10-Jun-2008
The defence had requested and been give a ruling of no case to answer. The prosecutor now appealed saying that this had been before he had closed the prosecution case, and had been not with his consent.
Held: The prosecutor’s appeal succeeded. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.77963

Shane Huia Matenga v The Queen: 13 Mar 2009

(Supreme Court of New Zealand) Whether to set aside jury’s verdict – miscarriage of justice

Judges:

Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath and Wilson JJ

Citations:

[2009] NZSC 18, [2009] 3 NZLR 145, (2009) 24 CRNZ 849

Links:

NZLII

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Noye, Kenneth, Regina v CACD 22-Mar-2011
The prisoner appealed against his conviction for murder on reference from the CCRC. There were new doubts about the reliabiity of the expert forensic expert.
Held: The appeal was dismissed. Dr H’s evidence did not impinge on the essential . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.430822

Jane Denton’s Case: 1823

Under the grand jury regime the indictment was authenticated by the delivery of the bill found to be a true bill by the grand jury.

Citations:

[1823] 168 ER 956, [1823] EngR 110, (1823) 1 Lewin 53

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Clarke, Regina v; Regina v McDaid HL 6-Feb-2008
An indictment had not been signed despite a clear statutory provision that it should be. The defects were claimed to have been cured by amendment before sentence.
Held: The convictions failed. Sections 1(1) and 2(1) of the 1933 Act which . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.267614

Freeman, Regina v; Regina v Crawford: CACD 8 Aug 2008

The court considered how a judge should deal with the cross-admissibility of evidence relating to two or more counts in the same indictment and the appropriate bad character direction to be given.

Judges:

Latham LJ, Grigson, MacDuff J

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Crim 1863, [2009] 1 Cr App Rep 11, [2009] 2 All ER 18, [2009] Crim LR 103, (2008) 172 JP 529, (2008) 172 JPN 757, [2009] 1 WLR 2723

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 2003 98

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.272292

Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office v The Stokoe Partnership: Admn 24 May 2007

Three members of the Bar and a firm of solicitors, the Stokoe Partnership, have sought to persuade this court that the Court of Appeal Criminal Division does not have the power to authorise expenditure from public funds for applications for leave to appeal conviction or sentence before leave to appeal is given.

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 1588 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Taxes Management, Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.254477

Donnachie, Regina (on the Application of) v Cardiff Magistrates’ Court: Admn 27 Jul 2007

The defendant appealed refusal of the district judge to state a case on the basis of having no jurisdiction.
Held: Where the magistrate is acting not as an Examining Magistrate, but is deciding a preliminary issue as to jurisdiction, his ruling upon that is final and can properly be challenged by way of case stated or judicial review. The date for calculation of the limitation for prosecution was the date on which the odometer had been alleged to have been changed. The prosecutor was the Council.

Judges:

Sedley LJ, Nelson J

Citations:

Times 22-Aug-2007, [2007] EWHC 1846 (Admin), [2007] 1 WLR 3085

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Trade Descriptions Act 1968

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Atkinson v Government of the United States HL 1969
The House heard an appeal from the magistrates’ refusal to commit the accused in the course of extradition proceedings.
Held: There is no abuse of process jurisdiction in extradition proceedings. There is no power to state a case in relation . .
Cited – Regina v Bull CACD 4-Dec-1995
An odometer figure which was stated on the sales slip to be wrong was not s false trade description. . .
Cited – Regina v Clerkenwell Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate ex parte Director of Public Prosecutions 1984
A magistrate acting not as an Examining Magistrate, but deciding a preliminary issue as to jurisdiction, gives a ruling which is final and can properly be challenged by way of case stated or judicial review. . .
Cited – Dewing v Cummings 1971
There is no power to state a case in relation to committal proceedings. . .
Cited – John Charles Brooks v Club Continental 13-Oct-1981
The trading standards officer of the relevant authority and who wished to bring the complaint had been unsure as to the identity of the offender, because he was dealing with a corporate defendant and a number of possible candidates as the proposed . .
Cited – Newman and others v London Borough of Hackney 1982
The court considered the distinction between section 1(1)(a) and 1(1)(b) of the Trade Descriptions Act: ‘In my judgment, there is world of difference between the two offences. It is perfectly true that the application of a false trade description . .
Cited – Tesco Stores Ltd v London Borough of Harrow Admn 21-Nov-2003
The court considered at what point the knowledge of the prosecuting authorities became sufficient to begin time running on a prosecution: ‘The question to ask in these circumstances is whether the facts disclosed, objectively considered, would have . .
Cited – Wayne Swan v Vehicle Inspectorate Admn 11-Nov-1996
The Time limit for commencing a prosecution doesn’t begin to run until a person authorised to prosecute is told of the circumstances. A traffic examiner, not authorised to take a decision to prosecute could not be the ‘prosecutor’ under section 6 of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.258431

New Bridge Holdings v Barclays Bank: 10 Feb 2006

The court suggested as a way of dealing with problems under the Act that attempts should be made: ‘to provide for some procedure whereby the arbitrary and capricious exercise of power should be prevented by the court being told, in confidence by the relevant authority, whether or not an investigation is in progress and the general nature of that investigation, so that the court could form a view – a view as to the likely success of the applicant at trial in obtaining the relief he seeks or the Bank committing an offence if it makes the transfer without the relevant consent.’

Judges:

Judge Norris QC

Citations:

Unrepoted 1 February 2006

Statutes:

Proceeds of Crime Act 2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – K Ltd v National Westminster Bank Plc and others CA 19-Jul-2006
The bank had declined to act upon a customer’s instructions, reporting its suspicions of criminal activity to the police. Permission was given to proceed but only after a delay. The claimant customer sought its costs.
Held: The customer’s . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking, Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 December 2022; Ref: scu.243376

Cadman v Regina: CACD 3 Jul 2008

Appeal from conviction of fraud – material provided to the jury after retirement which had not been used during the trial and made available to be challenged.
Held: Conviction set aside: ‘For the jury to use the extraneous material provided after their retirement (i.e. the sample of further cheques) in order to compare handwriting so as to decide whether the appellant had written out the body of the cheques in Appendix G, necessarily meant using that extraneous material as evidence in an exercise that would enable the jury to reach their own conclusion in relation to the appellant’s unchallenged and crucial evidence to the contrary effect. In our judgment, it was wholly impermissible for the jury to make use of the extraneous material for such an evidential exercise. However, as we have already stated, it is very likely that this is precisely what the jury did.’ and
‘ as a result of their impermissible evidential exercise, the jury could have come to the conclusion that the appellant had not merely signed the cheques in Appendix G, but that he had written out the entire body of the cheques and had lied about having done so. As we have already explained, the appellant’s evidence that (apart from one minor exception) he had not written out the body of any of the relevant cheques, was evidence that went to the very heart of his defence. In our judgment, there can be no doubt that any conclusion by the jury that the appellant had lied about this important matter is one that might reasonably have affected their decision to convict the appellant. Since we are satisfied that the jury could have come to such a conclusion as the result of the irregularity that occurred in this case, the conviction must therefore be considered unsafe’

Judges:

Hooper LJ, Forbes, Blake JJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Crim 1418

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Karakaya CACD 16-Feb-2005
No Internet Research for juror
After conclusion of the trial, the jury bailiff discovered notes in the jury room which indictated that the jury, after they had retired for their verdict, had read and discussed notes obtained by a juror from the Internet relating to the case.
Cited – Regina v Pendleton HL 13-Dec-2001
The defendant had appealed his conviction for murder to the Court of Appeal. The 1968 Act required the court to consider whether the conviction was unsafe. New evidence was before the Court of Appeal, but they had rejected the appeal.
Held: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.270947

Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF: Admn 30 Nov 2007

The judge had made an order on the basis that a non-derogating control order was flawed. The order had been appealed successfully. He now faced a question, at the directions stage, as to whether he could hear the case again after it was remitted to his division.
Held: He could indeed hear the case. The wording of the Act did not oust the standing principle that a judicial decsion should be respected in subsequent proceedings between the same parties. There was therefore no objective reason for the same judge to rehear the case on it being remitted.

Judges:

Stanley Burnton J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 2828 (Admin), Times 17-Dec-2008, [2008] ACD 20, [2008] 2 All ER 67

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 3(10) 10(4)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.261646

Hertfordshire County Council v National Grid Gas Plc: Admn 2 Nov 2007

The council laid complaints against the defenedant that it had not properly re-instated road surfaces after completing works. It now appealed, by way of case stated, against the court’s acceptance of the defendant’s argument that the large number of individual complaints would lead to a risk of a substantially greater punishment than parliament had intended, and that this amounted to an abuse of process.
Held: The appeal failed. The judge had been correct to say that it was wrong to complain of each separate error. It was not open to the council to lay multiple informations under the subsection in relation to a single date (though the defendant has accepted that it was open to the council to lay separate informations in relation to different dates). The laying of multiple informations in respect of a single offence was an abuse of process.

Judges:

Richards LJ, Openshaw J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 2535 (Admin), [2008] 1 All ER 1137, [2008] 1 WLR 2562

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

New Roads and Street Works Act 1991

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Humphrys HL 1977
Humphrys was charged with driving while disqualified. The issue was the correctness of the identification by a police constable. In evidence, Humphrys denied that he was the driver, or indeed that he had driven any car during the year in question. . .
Cited – British Telecommunications Plc v Nottinghamshire County Council Admn 21-Oct-1998
The court considered an appeal by case stated against a conviction on 2 informations under sections 71(1) and (5). One alleged a failure to comply with the prescribed requirements as to the specification of materials to be used in reinstating the . .
Cited – Thames Water Utilities Ltd v London Borough of Bromley Admn 4-Mar-2000
The court considered an appeal by case stated against a conviction on 16 separate informations alleging offences of failing to complete permanent reinstatement as required by section 70(4). . .
Cited – Regina v Manchester Coroner, ex parte Tal 1985
The court asked whether the Divisional Court was bound by previous decisions of that court, and answered: ‘we find it difficult to imagine that a single judge exercising this (supervisory) jurisdiction (of the High Court) would ever depart from a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Utilities, Criminal Practice

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.260206

Bracegirdle v Oxley and Cobley: 1947

The facts proved or admitted pointed inescapably to the conclusion that the drivers had driven dangerously. But the justices, in defiance of Divisional Court authority, concluded that the driving was not dangerous. The point has been decided adversely to the defendant in two previous High Court decisions. The prosecutor appealed by case stated.
Held: Humphreys J said: ‘I only desire to say that for a very great number of years, whenever justices have found facts from which only one conclusion can be drawn by reasonable persons honestly applying their minds to the question, and have refused to draw that only conclusion, this court has invariably upset the decision of the justices in the appropriate manner.’ and ‘If justices persist in disregarding decisions given previously by this Court on a set of facts which cannot be distinguished from the facts which are before the Justices in any particular case, they are guilty of a grave dereliction of duty, because it is their duty to obey the rulings of this Court’.
Lord Goddard CJ: ‘It is said that this court is bound by the findings of fact set out in the cases by the magistrates. It is true that this court does not sit as a general court of appeal against magistrates’ decisions in the same way as quarter sessions. In this court we only sit to review the magistrates’ decisions on points of law, being bound by the facts which they have found, provided always that there is evidence on which they could come to the conclusions of fact at which they have arrived. Mr Parker, who has intervened in this case as amicus curiae to enable the court to have the benefit of a full argument on each side, concedes that if magistrates come to a decision to which no reasonable bench of magistrates, applying their minds to proper considerations and giving themselves proper directions, could come, then this court can interfere, because the position is exactly the same as if the magistrates had come to a decision of fact without evidence to support it. Sometimes it has been said of the verdict of a jury given in those circumstances, that it is perverse, and I should have no hesitation in applying that term to the decisions of magistrates which are arrived at without evidence to support them.’

Judges:

Humphreys J, Lord Goddard CJ

Citations:

[1947] KB 349, [1947] 1 All ER 126

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Uddin Admn 8-Jun-2006
Prosecutor’s appeal by case stated against dismissal of charge of taking vehicle without the owner’s consent. Officer’s fleeting sight of defendant who was known to him driving. . .
Endorsed – Regina v Mildenhall Magistrates’ Court, Ex Parte Forest Heath District Council; Regina v North West Suffolk (Mildenhall) Magistrates’ Court ex parte Forest Heath District Council CA 16-Apr-1997
The Magistrates appealed against an order of mandamus requiring a case to be stated after rejecting the request by the authority as frivolous. The authority had sought to prevent the emission of noise from land used for a Motocross racing track.
Cited – Skelton, Regina (on The Application of) v Winchester Crown Court Admn 5-Dec-2017
The Court was asked whether the Crown Court could properly refuse to state a case for the opinion of the divisional court, having convicted a defendant, on her appeal from the magistrates’ court, of an offence of common assault. She was evicted from . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Magistrates

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.242963

Lees, Regina v: CANI 6 Apr 2001

The BBC sought leave to appeal against an order following the conviction by a jury of the defendant on drugs charges and his pleas of guilty on the counts of various types of fraudulent activity. The judge’s order, made under section 4(2) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 prohibited the reporting of any of the proceedings or sentences passed in respect of the three bills –
‘until the time has expired within which Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland in Bill of Indictment 169/99 may be given or, in the event of such notice being given, until the Appeal in Bill of Indictment 169/99 has been heard and determined or, in the event of a retrial being granted by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland, such retrial has been heard and determined.’
The BBC applied for leave to appeal against the order, pursuant to the provisions of section 159 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Leave was refused by the single judge, and the BBC renewed its application to this court.

Citations:

[2001] NICA 19

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Criminal Practice, Media

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.201965

Harris v Tippett: 1811

Where the character of a witness is relevant to the issue, cross examination is permitted, ‘As to any improper conduct of which he may have been guilty for the purpose of trying his credit; but, when the questions are irrelevant to the issue on the record, you cannot call witnesses to contradict the answer he gives.’

Citations:

(1811) 2 Camp 637

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Somers CACD 2-Dec-1998
The defendant appealed a conviction for theft from his employer. There were burglaries in circumstances which suggested help from within the company. The defendant now appealed the non-admission of evidence showing a co-worker had been soliciting . .
Cited – Regina v Edwards CACD 1991
The appellant was convicted of robbery with a firearm and sentenced to 14 years. The evidence included police evidence of his confessions in interview. He challenged the veracity of the interview notes, alleging that the police officers concerned . .
Cited – O’Brien v Chief Constable of South Wales Police HL 28-Apr-2005
The claimant sought damages against the police, and wanted to bring in evidence of previous misconduct by the officers on a similar fact basis. They had been imprisoned and held for several years based upon admissions which they said they had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.182088

In re Andrews: CA 25 Feb 1999

Interesting and difficult question in an arcane field at the intersection of the old equitable remedy of receivership and the modern procedures of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 designed to combat serious crime. The problem in a nutshell is this: if a receiver is appointed under that Act to receive and manage a defendant’s property and incurs costs and expenses in so doing, who bears that cost and expense if the defendant is subsequently acquitted by the Crown Court and awarded his costs of defence out of public funds?

Citations:

[1999] EWCA Civ 864, [2000] CP Rep 30

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1988

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Costs, Criminal Practice

Updated: 05 December 2022; Ref: scu.145779

Haralambous v St Albans Crown Court and Another: Admn 22 Apr 2016

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 the warrant was later redacted to such an extent that what is available to the claimant is not a sufficient legal basis for it or the retention of property seized. Courts below have authorised the redactions on public interest grounds, but the claimant contends that this constitutes a closed material procedure which is without statutory foundation.
Held: Review refused.

Judges:

Burnett LJ, Cranston J

Citations:

[2016] EWHC 916 (Admin), [2016] WLR(D) 209, [2016] Lloyd’s Rep FC 412, [2016] Crim LR 664, [2016] 2 Cr App R 17, (2016) 180 JP 428, [2016] 1 WLR 3073, 180 JP 428

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 8

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Carnduff v Inspector Rock and Chief Constable West Midlands Police CA 11-May-2001
The claimant was a police informer. Over several years he had given and been paid for information. He claimed that on one occasion he had given information which had led to the arrest of a major criminal, but the police denied that any information . .
Cited – Al Rawi and Others v The Security Service and Others SC 13-Jul-2011
The claimant pursued a civil claim for damages, alleging complicity of the respondent in his torture whilst in the custody of foreign powers. The respondent sought that certain materials be available to the court alone and not to the claimant or the . .
Cited – Cronin, Regina (on The Application of) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and Another Admn 20-Nov-2002
The applicant had had his premises searched. He sought to challenge the basis on which search warrant had been granted. He argued that under the Convention, it was necessary for the magistrates to provide a written record of the reasons for granting . .
Cited – Energy Financing Team Ltd and others v The Director of the Serious Fraud Office, Bow Street Magistrates Court Admn 22-Jul-2005
The claimants sought to set aside warrants and executions under them to provide assistance to a foreign court investigating alleged unlawful assistance to companies in Bosnia Herzegovina.
Held: The issue of such a warrant was a serious step. . .
Cited – Gittins v Central Criminal Court Admn 14-Jan-2011
The claimant sought judicial review of decisions to issues search warrants to HMRC in respect of his premises. HMRC wanted to look for evidence of tax avoidance schemes which it thought might be unlawful. Until the morning of the hearing, HMRC . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis v Bangs Admn 3-Mar-2014
Where the police were objecting to the disclosure to a person affected of information relied upon before a magistrate to obtain a search and seizure warrant, the magistrates’ court was not functus officio, and any challenge to the withholding was an . .
Cited – AHK and Others v Secretary of State for The Home Department Admn 7-Jun-2013
. .
Cited – British Sky Broadcasting Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 12-Mar-2014
The court was asked as to the powers of Magistrates hearing an application for a search warrant to receive excluded or special procedure material which had not been disclosed to the respondent. The court had overturned an order made by the district . .
Cited – Golfrate Property Management Ltd and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Crown Court At Southwark and Another Admn 25-Mar-2014
The claimants sought to have set aside search and seizure warrants obtained to further enquiries into suspected breaches of EU sanctions against ZANU-PF of Zimbabwe. They alleged non-disclosure and misrepresentation.
Held: A decision to claim . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Haralambous, Regina (on The Application of) v Crown Court at St Albans and Another SC 24-Jan-2018
The appellant challenged by review the use of closed material first in the issue of a search warrant, and subsequently to justify the retention of materials removed during the search.
Held: The appeal failed. No express statutory justification . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Police, Magistrates

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.562904

Gibson, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: CA 11 Nov 2015

‘The issue in the case is whether the words ‘the said sum . . as was due at the time the period of detention was imposed’ in section 79(2) of the Magistrates’ Court Act (MCA) 1980 should be construed in the case of confiscation orders made under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994 (DTA) as meaning either:
i) the sum due when the default term was fixed by the Crown Court judge (the appellant’s case); or
ii) the sum due when the default term was activated by the Magistrates’ Court (the respondent’s case).’
Held: Part payments had to be taken into account, and to give effect to that conclusion it read two additional words into section 79(2) so that it read ‘Where, before or after a period of imprisonment . . has been imposed . . ‘

Judges:

Lewison, Treacey, Gloster LJJ

Citations:

[2015] EWCA Civ 1148, [2016] 4 All ER 244, [2016] Lloyd’s Rep FC 11, [2017] 1 WLR 1115

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Magistrates Courts Act 1980, Drug Trafficking Act 1994

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Gibson, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice Admn 4-Sep-2013
. .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Gibson, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice SC 24-Jan-2018
The appellant had been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and a confiscation order pounds 5.4m with six years in default. Small payments were made later by his receivers, but the interest had taken the total sums due over pounds 8m at the time of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Sentencing

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.554608

Van Der Pijl v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another: Admn 13 Feb 2014

‘applications for permission to apply for judicial review arising out of closely associated facts and, if permission is granted, for substantive relief. The applications form part of a series of litigation in this jurisdiction and also in the Netherlands arising out of an investigation by the Dutch authorities into suspected fraud and money laundering by, inter alia, the Claimant. ‘
The court emphasised

Judges:

Collins, Green JJ

Citations:

[2014] WLR(D) 71, [2014] EWHC 281 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.521240

Hauschildt, Regina (On the Application of) v Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court: Admn 13 Dec 2007

The detainee sough a writ of habeas corpus. He had returned to England to surrender to bail against a representation that he would be bailed. After interview he had been remanded in custody. The officer said that he had known his representation was a false assurance.
Held: By the deception, the officer had evaded the extradition procedures. To make a promise and then break it, as blatantly as was done in this case, in my judgment is a clear abuse of process. The court reconstituted itself as a district judge, and granted bail subject to conditions.

Judges:

Mitting J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 3494 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Horseferry Road Magistrates’ Court, ex Parte Bennett (No 1) HL 24-Jun-1993
The defendant had been brought to the UK in a manner which was in breach of extradition law. He had, in effect, been kidnapped by the authorities.
Held: The High Court may look at how an accused person was brought within the jurisdiction when . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.331119

Regina v Hussein: CACD 16 Dec 2005

Whether a procedural mistake might lead to the need for a venire de novo.

Citations:

[2005] EWCA Crim 3556

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Norman, Regina v CACD 31-Jul-2008
The defendant suffered a degenerative disease affecting his mental capacity, and at trial the issue of his fitness to plead arose.
Held: Where the issue of unfitness arose it was necessary for the court to exercise very careful case management . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.279810

Giuseppe Sidoli’s Case: 1833

The court considered the validation of the indictment under the grand jury system.

Citations:

[1833] 168 ER 957, (1833) 1 Lewin 55

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Clarke, Regina v; Regina v McDaid HL 6-Feb-2008
An indictment had not been signed despite a clear statutory provision that it should be. The defects were claimed to have been cured by amendment before sentence.
Held: The convictions failed. Sections 1(1) and 2(1) of the 1933 Act which . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.267615

South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust v Bradford Crown Court: Admn 27 Mar 2003

Citations:

[2003] EWHC 640 (Admin), [2003] ACD 68

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina on the Application of South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust v Crown Court at Bradford CA 19-Dec-2003
A appealed an order made by the Crown Court under the 1964 Act for his detention in a mental hospital on the grounds that he was unfit to enter a plea to the charge of murder.
Held: The Court of Appal had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Health, Criminal Practice

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.263504

Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office, Regina (on the Application of) v Lloyds TSB Plc: Admn 2 Oct 2007

An assets freezing order had been made. The defendant had a substantial sum of money with the bank in a non-interest bearing account. The bank moved the assets to an interest bearing account but e prosecutor was not informed. An order finding the defendants in contempt of the order was sought.
Held: ‘The decision on the part of the bank to change that identification without the consent of the person seeking the order, or of the court, was to my mind in clearest breach, by both Mr R and the bank, of the terms of the order.’

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 2393 (Admin), [2008] Lloyd’s Rep FC 100

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice, Banking, Contempt of Court

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.261645

Juncal, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and others: Admn 19 Dec 2007

The claimant sought damages, saying that he had been unlawfully detained when found unfit to plead in 1997.
Held: The claim failed. (a) The 1964 Act, and its Scottish equivalent, did not authorise anything that was arbitrary. (b) It followed that Parliament did not, by the 1986 Order, pass subordinate legislation which authorised arbitrary detention at hospital. (c) It was clear from Dr Gray’s report to the Belfast Crown Court that the appellant’s compulsory hospitalisation was justified. No other interpretation of the report, when read as a whole, was tenable. (d) The subsequent transfers were lawful in terms of the legislation which authorised them. The key statutory word was ‘corresponding’ and the statutory provisions dealing with fitness to plea in the different parts of the United Kingdom came within that definition. (e) The appellant’s detention at hospital throughout the period of detention has been lawfully authorised by relevant domestic legislation. (f) The 1998 Act did not operate retrospectively and events at the Belfast Crown Court in 1997 could not be challenged under article 6 of the Convention.

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 3024 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 5, Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 81(1), Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Juncal, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and others CA 25-Jul-2008
The claimant appealed dismissal of his claim for wrongful imprisonment having been detained in 1997 on being found unfit to plead to an offence of violence.
Held: Parliament had a legitimate concern for the protection of the public, and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Health

Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.262947

Rex v Warwickshall: 1785

The defendant, Jane Warwickshall had confessed to receiving stolen property. Because of that confession, the property was found in her lodgings concealed in the sackings of her bed.
Held: The court refused to admit her confession because it had been obtained by promise of favour, but ruled that facts discovered as a result of her inadmissible confession could be proved if that could be done:- ‘without calling in the aid of any part of the confession from which it may have been derived.’

Citations:

(1785) 1 Leach 263

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Evidence

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.252559

Regina v Seward: 1970

The section in the 1967Act required as a precondition to a request for a breath specimen that an accident had occurred. The defendant complained that this was an issue of fact, but had been decided by the deputy chairman and not the jury.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Lord Widgery CJ said: ‘The issue whether there was an accident or not is not a matter which gives rise to a discretion of the court, it is a vital question going to guilt on this charge, because if the prosecution decide to base their proceedings upon the allegation that an accident occurred, they have to prove it as one of the essential factors in the case. Accordingly the deputy chairman, in our judgment, was wholly wrong in taking this issue away from the jury and determining it himself as he did.’

Judges:

Lord Widgery CJ

Citations:

[1970] RTR 102

Statutes:

Road Safety Act 1967 2(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Morris 1972
Whether the particular facts of a case amount to an accident is a question of law. In a case of disputed facts under s2(2) of the 1967 Act it is for the jury to decide the facts and apply to the facts found the judge’s direction as to the meaning of . .
Cited – Currie, Regina v CACD 26-Apr-2007
The defendant appealed his conviction for dangerous driving. The failure of the police to serve him with a notice of intended prosecution invalidated the conviction. The police replied that there was no need for such a notice because there had been . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Road Traffic, Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.251520

A, Regina (on the application of) v South Yorkshire Police and Another: Admn 9 May 2007

Six youths challenged decisions that they should be prosecuted for offences of criminal damage rather than be given warnings in accordance with the Final Warning Scheme. They said that they had not sought representation at the police station after being told that they would receive only warnings. This was denied by the police. That denial was accepted by the court.
Held: The decision was within the range of proper decisions and was sustainable. May LJ: ‘these are judicial review proceedings and the court is concerned not to decide whether the decisions to charge and prosecute rather than give a final warning are decisions which we would ourselves have taken, but whether, on public law considerations, these were decisions which were beyond the lawful competence of those making them, or decisions reached by a flawed process such that they ought not to stand. ‘

Judges:

May LJ, Gray J

Citations:

[2007] EWHC 1261 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Crime and Disorder Act 1998 65

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – F, Regina (on the Application of) v Crown Prosecution Service and Another Admn 12-Dec-2003
Jackson J said: ‘Save in exceptional circumstances, it is quite inappropriate for this court to step into the shoes of the crown prosecutor and to retake decisions which Parliament has entrusted to the crown prosecutor under the Prosecution of . .
Cited – Mondelly, Regina (on the Application of) v the Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis Admn 29-Sep-2006
The defendant sought judicial review of his caution for possession of cannabis, saying that it went again the national guidance against such decisions after the reclassification of cannabis as a Class C banned substance. He had been arrested for a . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of Kent ex parte L 1991
The discretion which is vested in the Crown Prosecution Service to continue criminal proceedings commenced by the police is subject to judicial review by the High Court, but only where it can be shown that the decision was made regardless of, or . .
Cited – Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions ex parte C Admn 6-Oct-2000
The court upheld a decision to prosecute a 15-year-old applicant for road traffic offences rather than to divert him from prosecution and caution. Penry-Davey J said: ‘It is clear from the case of R v Chief Constable of Kent ex parte L [1991] 93 Cr . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Police

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.253295

Wemyss v Hopkins: 1875

The defendant had been convicted under a statutory offence, on the basis that as a driver of a carriage he had struck a horse ridden by the prosecutor causing hurt and damage to the prosecutor. He was then summoned again for what appeared to be a different offence, of having unlawfully assaulted, struck and otherwise abused the prosecutor. The two offences were in fact founded on one and the same incident.
Held: On a case stated the second conviction was quashed.

Citations:

(1875) LR 10 QB 378

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Connelly v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 1964
Plea of Autrefois Acquit is Narrow in Scope
The defendant had been tried for and acquitted of murder. The prosecution then sought to have him tried for robbery out of the same alleged facts. The House considered his plea of autrefois convict.
Held: The majority identified a narrow . .
Cited – Regina v Z (Prior acquittal) HL 22-Jun-2000
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.237473

Regina v Diani: 1999

(Gibraltar) The court in Gibralter had no power to award a successful defendant in criminal proceedings his costs.

Citations:

[1999-00] Gib LR 113

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Her Majesty’s Attorney General for Gibraltar v Shimidzu (Berllaque, Intervenor) PC 28-Jun-2005
(Gibraltar) The appellants sought to argue that the failure to allow an acquitted defendant any possible order for costs was a breach of the Constitution.
Held: Section 8 of the Constitution, like its analogue article 6 of the European . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Costs

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.228423

Regina v Melvin: 20 Dec 1993

The court considered what material should be disclosed by a prosecutor: ‘I would judge to be material in the realm of disclosure that which can be seen on a sensible appraisal by the prosecution: (1) to be relevant or possibly relevant to an issue in the case; (2) to raise or possibly raise a new issue whose existence is not apparent from the evidence the prosecution proposes to use; (3) to hold out a real (as opposed to fanciful) prospect of providing a lead on evidence which goes to (1) or (2).”

Judges:

Jowitt J

Citations:

Unreported, 20 December 1993

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Keane CACD 15-Mar-1994
Public Interest Immunity Certificates for the protection of informants must be used only carefully. The Crown must specify the purpose of the public interest immunity certificate. The principles on disclosure in Ward are not limited to scientific . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.193834

Connachan v Douglas: 1990

Citations:

[1990] CLY 4925

Jurisdiction:

Scotland

Cited by:

Overruled – McFadyen v Annan 1992
The accused, a police officer, was subject of a complaint by the person arrested of assault. The defendant complained that the delay in bringing charges (7 months) was excessive so as to be unfair.
Held: The question should be whether the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.187399

Attorney-General’s Guidelines Practice Note (Criminal Evidence: Unused Material): 1982

Citations:

[1982] 1 All ER 734

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Outdated – Regina v Brown (Winston) HL 20-Feb-1997
The victim had been stabbed outside a nightclub. Two witnesses identified the defendant. The defendants complained that evidence had not been disclosed to them.
Held: There is no duty at common law on the prosecution to warn the defence of . .
Cited – Taylor and Others v Director of The Serious Fraud Office and Others HL 29-Oct-1998
The defendant had requested the Isle of Man authorities to investigate the part if any taken by the plaintiff in a major fraud. No charges were brought against the plaintiff, but the documents showing suspicion came to be disclosed in the later . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.193794

Rex v Cheverton: 1848

Citations:

(1848) 2 F and F 833

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Ibrahim v The King PC 6-Mar-1914
(Hong Kong) The defendant was an Afghan subject with the British Army in Hong Kong. He was accused of murder. Having accepted the protection of the British Armed forces, he became subject to their laws. In custody, he was asked about the offence by . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Evidence, Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.184186

Regina v Horseferry Road Justices ex parte Hillier: Admn 9 Oct 1998

Challenge to conviction based upon evidence as to contents of evidence bags where there was a discontinuity in its custody. Counsel complained that he had been badgered by the stipendiary magistrate into revealing his defence in advance.
Held: Though the evidence was conflicting, the court had to proceed on the assumed basis of counsel’s assertions. However ‘before this court would grant any remedy it would have to be persuaded that the unfairness led to some prejudice to the defendant.’ In this case the prosecution would have been alerted to look for the possible defence, and obtained an adjournment, and therefore the defendant suffered no prejudice, and the appeal failed.

Citations:

[1998] EWHC Admin 939

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Leicester City Justices, ex parte Barrow CA 1-Aug-1991
The appellant challenged a community charge liability order in which justices had refused an application made on his behalf for a friend to be allowed to sit with him to give advice and assistance. He sought judicial review. The Divisional Court had . .
Cited – Regina v Francis CACD 1990
The prosecution had omitted to bring evidence that the person standing at No.20 on an identification parade was the appellant. The defence complained that the prosecutor had been allowed to re-open his case.
Held: ‘The discretion of the judge . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 December 2022; Ref: scu.139060