The defendant complained that on his trial for rape, he had been asked if he knew of any reason why the complainant should be lying. He said it had the effect of transferring the burden of proof onto him.
Held: The question had been in constant use for many years, though there was no English authority on the point. Foreign authorities were conflicting. The question was not unfair and no shift of the burden took place. It was relevant, and allowed the accused to put forward some explanation he might know of.

Judges:

Rose LJ, Gross Pitchers JJ

Citations:

Times 31-Mar-2003, Gazette 09-May-2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.180957

The applicant sought a declaration as to the lawfulness of a lottery scheme whilst criminal proceedings were pending against it for the same scheme.
Held: It was not necessary to decide whether a declaration as to the criminality or otherwise of future conduct can ever properly be made by a civil court. It would be a very exceptional case in which it would be right to do so.
Viscount Dilhorne: ‘Donaldson J thought [the Court] could [grant a declaration] but did not grant it as he thought that the . . . scheme was a lottery and an unlawful competition. The Court of Appeal, holding that it was neither, granted it. That decision, if it stands, will form a precedent for the Commercial Court and other civil courts usurping the functions of the criminal courts. Publishers may be tempted to seek declarations that what they propose to publish is not a criminal libel or blasphemous or obscene. If in this case where the declaration sought was not in respect of future conduct but in respect of what had already taken place, it could properly be granted, I see no reason why in such cases a declaration as to future conduct could not be granted. If this were to happen, then the position could be much the same as it was before the passing of Fox’s Libel Act 1792 when judges, not juries, decided whether a libel was criminal, blasphemous or obscene.’ and ‘. . . it is not necessary in this case to decide whether a declaration as to the criminality or otherwise of future conduct can ever properly be made by a civil court. In my opinion it would be a very exceptional case in which it would be right to do so. In my opinion it cannot be right to grant a declaration that an accused is innocent after a prosecution has started.’ and ‘Such a declaration is no bar to a criminal prosecution, no matter the authority of the court which grants it . . such a declaration in a case such as the present one, made after the commencement of the prosecution, and in effect a finding of guilt or innocence of the offence charged, cannot found a plea of autrefois acquit or autrefois convict, though it may well prejudice the criminal proceedings . . if a civil court of great authority declares on admissions made by the accused that no crime has been committed, one can foresee the use that might be made of that at the criminal trial . . I think that the administration of justice would become chaotic if, after the start of a prosecution, declarations of innocence could be obtained from a civil court. ‘
Lord Lane considered that there was jurisdiction to grant a declaration ‘in these circumstances’ but ‘Counsel appearing before your Lordships’ House were unable to find any case in which a defendant in criminal proceedings already properly and not vexatiously instituted had applied for a declaration that the criminal proceedings were unfounded or based on a misapprehension as to the true meaning of the criminal statute. I do not find that dearth of authority surprising. It would be strange if a defendant to proper criminal proceedings were able to pre-empt those proceedings by application to a judge of the High Court . . .what effect in law upon the criminal proceedings would any pronouncement from the High Court in these circumstances have? The criminal court would not be bound by the decision.’

Judges:

Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Scarman, Lord Edmund-Davies, Lord Fraser of Tullybelton, Lord Lane

Citations:

[1980] 1 All ER 866, HL(E), [1980] 2 WLR 466, [1981] AC 718

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Financial Services Authority v Rourke ChD 19-Oct-2001
The applicant sought a declaration that the defendant had acted in breach of the Act, in accepting sums by way of deposit, without being authorised, and had made prohibited statements to attract such deposits. Could a civil court make such a finding . .
Cited – Attorney-General v Able and Others QBD 28-Apr-1983
The Attorney General sought a declaration as to whether it would be the crime of aiding and abetting or counselling and procuring suicide, to distribute a booklet published by the respondent which described various effective ways of committing . .
Cited – Airedale NHS Trust v Bland HL 4-Feb-1993
Procedures on Withdrawal of Life Support Treatment
The patient had been severely injured in the Hillsborough disaster, and had come to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). The doctors sought permission to withdraw medical treatment. The Official Solicitor appealed against an order of the Court . .
Cited – Regina v Her Majesty’s Attorney General ex parte Rusbridger and Another HL 26-Jun-2003
Limit to Declaratory Refilef as to Future Acts
The applicant newspaper editor wanted to campaign for a republican government. Articles were published, and he sought confirmation that he would not be prosecuted under the Act, in the light of the 1998 Act.
Held: Declaratory relief as to the . .
Cited – I-CD Publishing Ltd v The Secretary of State, The Information Commissioner (Interested Party) Admn 21-Jul-2003
The claimant sought judicial review challenging the restrictions on the sale of electoral registers to registered credit reference agencies. Following Robertson (1) the new regulations created two registers, and the claimant sought to be able to . .
Cited – Rusbridger and Another v Attorney General CA 20-Mar-2002
The paper wanted to publish an article about the monarchy but was concerened that it might lead to it being prosecuted under the 1848 Act. The complainant sought declarations as to the incompatibility of the 1848 Act with the 1998 Act.
Held: . .
Cited – Levey, Regina v CACD 27-Jul-2006
The defendant appealed against his conviction of manslaughter of his baby son. He said that a family court had previously investigated the same allegations and had explicitly found itself unable to say which of himself and the mother were . .
Cited – Regina v Belmarsh Magistrates’ Court ex parte Fiona Watts Admn 8-Feb-1999
The defendant sought to have dismissed as an abuse of proces charges against her that as an officer of Customs and Excise prosecuting the now private prosecutor, she had committed various offences.
Held: The magistrate was vested with . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.180317

The practice of the Crown Prosecution Service obtaining psychiatric reports on a defendant in all murder cases should be discontinued. If the defence wished to raise or consider in a murder case an issue in relation to the defendant’s mental state there was or should not be any difficulty in obtaining a psychiatrist’s report, usually at public expense, and similarly the Crown would have opportunity if necessary.

Judges:

Lord Justice Rose, Mr Justice Bell and Mr Justice Stanley Burnton

Citations:

Times 12-Nov-2001

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.166774

A judge’s ruling as to the scope of an indictment at a preliminary hearing was within the section since it identified issues ‘likely to be material . . to the jury’ Accordingly the judge was determining an issue of law rather than management, and his decision was appealable. The judge had ruled as to the range of the conspiracy arising from the evidence to be presented by the Crown.

Citations:

Times 30-Mar-2001, Gazette 17-May-2001

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1987 7(1)(a) 9(3)(c)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.88465

Under appropriate circumstances, it might be appropriate for the judge to take over from defence counsel the cross examination of the complainant. Here the child complainant in a case of sex abuse and rape, refused to answer questions from defence counsel. The judge discussed the matter with defence and prosecution counsel in the absence of the witness and jury. He was given a copy of defence counsel’s questions, and indicated where he was not inclined to ask the questions. Prosecution counsel was denied a re-examination. The jury were warned appropriately. The trial was fair, but the procedure might only be used in exceptional cases and not involving adult witnesses.

Citations:

Times 03-May-2001

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.88403

Where a defendant admitted robbery but denied having a firearm, the judge held a Newton trial to decide the issue. The defendant appealed, saying that such a serious issue should properly have been tried as a separate count on the indictment, and he should have had the opportunity to put his case before a jury.
Held: The Newton trial was inappropriate. It was a grave allegation, and the need for economy should not be allowed to remove that protection. The defendant was re-sentenced on the basis that he had not had a firearm.

Citations:

Times 03-May-2001

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Hylands, Regina v CACD 25-Nov-2004
The defendant had been convicted of robbery. Evidence suggested that he may had had with him a firearm. He appealed an automatic life sentence for a second serious offence.
Held: In order for an offence to come within the section, either the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.88448

Crown Court may only remit case committed for sentence where there had been a plain error. The Court upheld the validity of the decision of the stipendiary magistrate to commit the matter to the Crown Court for sentence and set aside the Crown Court’s decision to the contrary.
Kennedy LJ said: ‘ But in any event . . the Crown Court had no power to go behind the order of the Magistrates’ court which committed these matters to the Crown Court for sentence. That order was, on the face of it, a valid order. If it was to be challenged, it could only be properly challenged in this Court [i.e., the Divisional Court]. The position can be different where the order is obviously bad on the face of it, for example, where a case has been purportedly committed for trial when the offence is one which can only be tried summarily . . but that is not this case. ‘
Scott Baker J said: ‘ Only where a committal is plainly invalid on its face should it be sent back by the Crown Court.’

Judges:

Kennedy LJ, Scott Baker J

Citations:

Times 03-Mar-1994, (1994) 15 Cr App R (S) 768

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Westminster City Council v Owadally and Another Admn 17-May-2017
Defendant must plea to charge, and not counsel
The defendants had, through their barrister, entered pleas of guilty, but the crown court had declared the convictions invalid because this had to have been done by the defendants personally, and remitted the cases and the confiscation proceedings . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.88010

Single magistrate may deal with applications in breach of bail hearings.

Citations:

Gazette 13-May-1992

Statutes:

Bail Act 1976 7(5)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.87200

When considering applications to extend the custody time limits, courts should have in view the purpose of the rules. It would be dangerous to give a list of good reasons for an extension. The court must itself consider the fulfilment of the section and give reasons for decision.
Lord Bingham of Cornhill CJ: ‘If the law ended at that point [simply with the Bail Act] it would manifestly afford inadequate protection to unconvicted defendants, since a person could, if the Bail Act conditions were satisfied, be held in prison awaiting trial indefinitely, and there would be no obligation on the prosecuting authority to bring him to trial as soon as reasonably possible. It was no doubt to rectify that defect that Parliament [introduced the 1985 Act].’ and ‘To satisfy the court that this condition is met the prosecution need not show that every stage of preparation of the case has been accomplished as quickly and efficiently as humanly possible. That would be an impossible standard to meet, particularly when the court which reviews the history of the case enjoys the immeasurable benefit of hindsight. Nor should the history be approached on the unreal assumption that all involved on the prosecution side have been able to give the case in question their undivided attention. What the court must require is such diligence and expedition as would be shown by a competent prosecutor conscious of his duty to bring the case to trial as quickly as reasonably and fairly possible. In considering whether that standard is met, the court will of course have regard to the nature and complexity of the case, the extent of preparation necessary, the conduct (whether co-operative or obstructive) of the defence, the extent to which the prosecutor is dependent on the co-operation of others outside his control and other matters directly and genuinely bearing on the preparation of the case for trial.’

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill CJ

Citations:

Gazette 27-Jan-1999, Times 19-Nov-1998, [1999] 1 WLR 841

Statutes:

Prosecution of Offences (Custody Time Limits) Regulations 1987 (1987 No 299)

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 . .
Cited – Regina v Leeds Crown Court, Ex parte Bagoutie 31-May-1999
Lord Bingham: ‘The court made plain in Ex p McDonald, as indeed is plain on the face of the statute, that when seeking an extension or a further extension of the custody time limit the Crown must show that there is good and sufficient [reason] for . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.87262

Telephone tapping evidence consisting of tapping records are to be destroyed after their use for the purpose obtained, but a prosecution was not within that purpose. The underlying purpose of the 1985 Act is to protect information as to the authorisation and carrying out of official intercepts. Evidence obtained mught be used to suggest further enquiries the results of which can be admitted even thought the original might still not be directly admissible. There was no obligation on the prosecution to disclose to the defence the inadmissible evidence.
Lord Mustill narrated the general prohibitions in section 1 and said: ‘To these general prohibitions section 1(2) creates exceptions in the case of (a) an interception made in obedience to a warrant issued by the Secretary of State, and (b) an interception made by someone who has reasonable grounds for believing that the person to or by whom the communication is sent has consented to the interception. Subsection 3 creates further exceptions, not here material.’

Judges:

Lord Mustill

Citations:

Times 05-Nov-1993, Gazette 19-Jan-1994, Independent 09-Nov-1993, [1994] 2 AC 130

Statutes:

Interception of Communications Act 1985 2(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Regina v Preston and Others CACD 17-Jun-1992
Evidence from telephone taps cannot be obtained for prosecution, and were inadmissible in court having been obtained unfairly. . .

Cited by:

Cited – W, Regina v (Attorney General’s reference no 5 of 2002) CACD 12-Jun-2003
Three serving police officers provided confidential information to a known criminal. The Chief Constable authorised interception of telephones at a police station, a private network. The court accepted that section 17 prevented the defence asserting . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 5 of 2002) HL 14-Oct-2004
The Attorney General sought the correct interpretation of section 17 where a court was asked as to whether evidence obtained from a telephone tapping had been taken from a public or private network. A chief constable suspected that the defendants, . .
Cited – Regina v P and others HL 19-Dec-2000
Where communications had been intercepted in a foreign country, and the manner of such interceptions had been lawful in that country, the evidence produced was admissible in evidence in a trial in England. An admission of such evidence was not an . .
Cited – Regina v Davis (Iain); Regina v Ellis, Regina v Gregory, Regina v Simms, Regina v Martin CACD 19-May-2006
The several defendants complained at the use at their trials of evidence given anonymously. The perceived need for anonymity arose because, from intimidation, the witnesses would not be willing to give their evidence without it.
Held: The . .
Cited – Regina v Sargent HL 25-Oct-2001
When a telephone engineer used his position to make unauthorised telephone intercepts, and produced apparent evidence of criminal activity, he was, under the Act, a person engaged in providing a public communications system, and the recordings were . .
Cited – Morgans v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 18-Feb-2000
Without a warrant, the police had arranged for a call logger to retain details of the calls made, including the number called, time and duration. The dialing itself was a communication, which established a connection, through which further . .
Cited – Regina v P and others HL 19-Dec-2000
Where communications had been intercepted in a foreign country, and the manner of such interceptions had been lawful in that country, the evidence produced was admissible in evidence in a trial in England. An admission of such evidence was not an . .
Cited – Regina v Khan (Sultan) HL 2-Jul-1996
The police had obtained the evidence against the defendant by fixing a covert listening device at an apartment visited by the defendant, and by recording his conversations there. The defendant appealed, saying that the court should have regard to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.87572

Custody time limits are not complied with simply by the preparation of a case for a paper committal within limit but where a full committal was then required. Habeas Corpus was refused, but judicial review was granted.

Citations:

Times 10-Mar-1998, Gazette 08-Apr-1998

Statutes:

Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 22(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.87145

An appeal lapses with the death of the appellant even though others may be affected. A statutory right of appeal is a personal right and does not survive the applicant.
Rights of appeal die with appellant even after remission by House of Lords.

Judges:

Lord Jauncey

Citations:

Independent 19-Jul-1994, Times 21-Jul-1994, Gazette 12-Oct-1994, (1994) 99 Cr App R 335

Statutes:

Criminal Appeals Act 1968 35(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Regina v Kearley, Regina v Harris (Lee) CACD 29-Nov-1993
Criminal appeals against sentence/conviction do not survive the death of the appellant.
Statutory appeals cannot be pursued when the appellant dies before the hearing.
Criminal appeals to Court of Appeal abate after the death of applicant. . .
Approved – Regina v Jefferies 1968
The appellant died pending his appeal being heard and his widow wished to pursue a challenge to the order for payment of prosecution costs.
Held: The powers of the court were derived from statute and did not permit such a course.
Widgery . .

Cited by:

Cited – Turk (Deceased) v Regina CACD 6-Apr-2017
Defendant’s death stops trial immediately
At his trial for serious sexual offences, the jury passed a note to the judge saying that they had reached unanimous verdicts on several counts. The judge did not pass the note to counsel, but instead asked the jury to retire overnight to try again . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.87036

Criminal appeals against sentence/conviction do not survive the death of the appellant.
Statutory appeals cannot be pursued when the appellant dies before the hearing.
Criminal appeals to Court of Appeal abate after the death of applicant.

Citations:

Ind Summary 24-Jan-1994, Times 29-Nov-1993, Gazette 12-Jan-1994

Statutes:

Criminal Appeals Act 1968

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v Kearley (Dec, by his Agent Brian Sharman) (Number 2) HL 21-Jul-1994
An appeal lapses with the death of the appellant even though others may be affected. A statutory right of appeal is a personal right and does not survive the applicant.
Rights of appeal die with appellant even after remission by House of Lords. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.87040

A Crown Court Judge who intended to extend the custody time limit must give reasons showing that good and sufficient cause for the continued custody existed and that the prosecution had acted in an expeditious manner.

Citations:

Times 19-Feb-1998

Statutes:

Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 22(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.87144

An appeal was properly to be dismissed in the absence of the appellant where having been released on bail, he had apparently fled the country.

Citations:

Times 01-Jun-1993

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.86304

Documents which were held by one government department, may be deemed to be held by all such departments. The Government’s failure to disclose documents was a material irregularity.

Citations:

Independent 08-Nov-1995, Times 08-Nov-1995

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See also – Regina v Blackledge; Regina v Grecian; Regina v Mason; Regina v Phillips CACD 14-Jun-1995
An order restricting certain exports survived the replacement of the Act under which the order was made, and continued to be binding. . .

Cited by:

See Also – Regina v Blackledge; Regina v Grecian; Regina v Mason; Regina v Phillips CACD 14-Jun-1995
An order restricting certain exports survived the replacement of the Act under which the order was made, and continued to be binding. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.86147

No matter how strong should the case seem against a defendant, a judge must be scrupulous to sum up the case fairly. It was never appropriate to pose questions to the jury which suggested the answers required, and which favoured the prosecution case, and which indicated the judge’s own personal views on the matter.

Citations:

Times 17-Aug-1999

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.85455

A court acting as an appeal court from the magistrates had a duty to give reasons when announcing its verdict in order to allow the applicant properly judge the criminality found and to assess the chances of an appeal.

Citations:

Times 29-Apr-1999

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.85560

An order to restrain funds was available here though foreign proceedings were in rem.

Citations:

Times 04-May-1994

Statutes:

Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.81963

Compensation orders were wrongly made against a Local Authority which had been taking the best care of a youth.

Citations:

Times 18-Apr-1995

Statutes:

Children and Young Persons Act 1933 55

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.79752

Appeal – refusal to appoint intermediary for defendant with learning difficulties – granted

Judges:

Dame Victoria Sharp, P

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 1204 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.650836

Practice Direction – arrangements for editing and producing tapes.

Citations:

Gazette 07-Oct-1992

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1991 53

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.77838

The Court gave guidance on best practice on renewing an application for leave to appeal on grounds differing from those where leave has already been refused.

Judges:

Hallett LJ, Sweeney, Russell JJ

Citations:

[2018] WLR(D) 134, [2018] 1 Cr App R 33, [2018] 1 WLR 2749, [2018] Crim LR 568, [2018] EWCA Crim 285

Links:

WLRD, Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 27 April 2022; Ref: scu.623998

The court gave guidance in respect of expert evidence given in criminal trials. The court made the following two points with regard to evidence of a subdural hematoma caused non-accidentally. First, a clinically observed coincidence of SDH, retinal haemorrhages and encephalopathy (the ‘triad’) is a ‘strong pointer to NAHI’ but it should not be treated as leading ‘automatically and necessarily’ to a diagnosis of NAHI.
and b) Second, on the question of the degree of force:
(a) where the triad is present: ‘generally it is agreed that there is no scientific method of correlating the amount of force used and the severity of the damage caused. To state the obvious, it is not possible to carry out experiments on living children. Further, experience shows that the human frame reacts differently in different infants to the same degree of force.’
(b) ‘common sense suggests that the more severe the injuries the more probable they will have been caused by greater force than mere ‘rough handling’. We note that the most recent Update from the Ophthalmology Child Abuse Working Party; Royal College of Ophthalmologists (2004) concludes:
‘It is highly unlikely that the forces required to produce retinal haemorrhage in a child less than 2 years of age would be generated by a reasonable person during the course of (even rough) play or an attempt to arouse a sleeping or apparently unconscious child.”
c) ‘as Mr Peter Richards, a very experienced neurosurgeon with a speciality in paediatrics, pointed out, if rough handling of an infant or something less than rough handling, commonly caused the sort of injuries which resulted in death, the hospitals would be full of such cases. In our view, this points to the fact that cases of serious injuries caused by very minor force such as might occur in normal handling or rough handling of an infant, are likely to be rare or even extremely rare.’
(d) ‘As Mr Richards said when asked a question in the context of the amount of force necessary to cause injuries, he agreed that the assessment of injuries is open to a great deal of further experimentation and information. He assented to the proposition ‘We don’t know all we should”.

Judges:

Lord Justice Gage The Honourable Mr Justice Gross Mr Justice McFarlane

Citations:

[2005] EWCA Crim 1980, [2006] 1 Cr App R 5, [2008] 2 FLR 412

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Bowman, Regina v CACD 2-Mar-2006
The defendant appealed his conviction of murder saying that evidence of other pathologists undermined the evidence given by similar experts for the crown.
Held: The court took the opportunity to give guidance on the provision of expert . .
Cited – Lancashire County Council v R (A Minor) and others FD 4-Dec-2008
The local authority sought a care order, alleging serious physical abuse of the child. The mother said that any injuries had been inflicted by the father. The father said that the cause was the mother.
Held: The injuries were not likely to . .
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: 21 April 2022; Ref: scu.236243

Challenges to the decision of the district judge not to allow a police officer to refresh his memory from a copy document recording the outcome of a breath test on the respondent using an ‘Intoxilyzer’ machine.

Judges:

Kerr J

Citations:

[2018] EWHC 544 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 13 April 2022; Ref: scu.608924

The service appealed dismissal of an information alleging breach of a community rehabilitation order.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Such a breach had to be established to the criminal standard of being beyond reasonable doubt, but the magistrates were entitled to infer from coincidences of name address and date of birth that the person before them was the person named by the information.

Judges:

Keene LJ, Poole J

Citations:

Times 11-Oct-2005

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.234548

The defendant sought to challenge a decision of the court as to the applicable standard of proof in proceedings for the forfeiture of terrorist cash.
Held: The application was premature. No evidence had yet been served, and no findings of fact made. It was not yet possible to identify how the questions which the applicant sought to raise would be reflected in the proceedings.

Judges:

Roles LJ

Citations:

Times 27-Jul-2005

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.229377

The defendant appealed his conviction which had been obtained but based upon the evidence of a ‘super-grass’. His appeal failed, but the witness then withdrew his evidence. The matter was referred back to the court under the section, which then refused to hear on issues not mentioned in the referral.
Held: The Court of Appeal, when hearing a reference under the section, must deal with the whole case as if it were a normal appeal. However in this case the appeal would still not have succeeded. The rule that a phrase in a consolidating Act must be interpreted in the same way as it had been previously interpreted is not inflexible.

Judges:

Lords Scarman, Roskill and Templeman

Citations:

[1984] AC 279, [1983] 3 WLR 835

Statutes:

Criminal Appal Act 1968 17(1)(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Explained – Barras v Aberdeen Steam Trawling and Fishing Co HL 17-Mar-1933
The court looked at the inference that a statute’s draughtsman could be assumed when using a phrase to rely on a known interpretation of that phrase.
Viscount Buckmaster said: ‘It has long been a well established principle to be applied in the . .

Cited by:

Cited – Dunnachie v Kingston Upon Hull City Council CA 11-Feb-2004
Compensation for non-economic loss brought about by the manner of an unfair dismissal is, on authority and on principle, recoverable. The award of such compensation by the employment tribunal in the present case was not excessive and was adequately . .
Cited – A v Hoare; H v Suffolk County Council, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs intervening; X and Y v London Borough of Wandsworth CA 12-Apr-2006
Each claimant sought damages for a criminal assault for which the defendant was said to be responsible. Each claim was to be out of the six year limitation period. In the first claim, the proposed defendant had since won a substantial sum from the . .
Cited – Gallagher (Valuation Officer) v Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints HL 30-Jul-2008
The House considered whether certain properties of the Church were subject to non-domestic rating. Various buildings were on the land, and the officer denied that some fell within the exemptions, and in particular whether the Temple itself was a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.194794

The defendant was tried for causing grievous bodily harm. After a majority direction, the jury returned, finding him guity. When asked if this was ‘the verdict of you all’, the formean replied ‘Yes’. The day after, he wrote to the judge to say that it had in fact been a majority verdict.
Held: The appeal failed. The lerk had asked the correct questions, and the answer had been unambigous. Returning a different verdict was not an issue, because it was not open to the Court to enquire further.
Lord Bingham CJ referred to section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act and said: ‘It would in our judgment set a very dangerous precedent if, save in quite extraordinary circumstances, an apparently unanimous verdict of a jury delivered in open court, and not then and there challenged by any juror, were to be re-opened and subjected to scrutiny. Suppose, for example, a majority verdict of 10 to2 were publicly announced without contradiction and a third juror thereafter claimed to have dissented. Or suppose there were in the circumstances of a case such as the present, disagreement whether the jurors had dissented or not. It is very difficult to see how that is a question which this court could properly investigate.’

Judges:

Lord Bingham CJ

Citations:

[1998] EWCA Crim 1203, [1999] 1 Cr App R 61

Statutes:

Juries Act 1973 17(3), Contempt of Court Act 1981 8

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Pigg HL 1982
The appellant was charged on indictment with two counts of attempted rape. The jury failed to agree on their first retirement following the summing-up, and were then given an impeccable majority direction. They returned to court after a further . .
Cited – Regina v Barry 1975
The jury returned after three hours retirement and said they had not reached a verdict. The judge did not give a majority direction, but a somewhat garbled version of a Walhein direction. The clerk asked the foreman whether the jury had reached a . .
Cited – Regina v Maloney CACD 25-Mar-1996
The jury retired on a Friday. They did not agree and a majority direction was given. Later the clerk asked the foreman whether at least 10 of the jury were agreed upon a verdict. He answered, ‘Yes’. Asked what the verdict was, the foreman answered, . .
Cited – Regina v Parkin 1824
The court asked whena jury might be allowed to change a verdict delivered. . .
Cited – Rex v Vodden 1853
The court considered when a jury might be allowed to change its verdict. one of the jurors delivered a verdict of not guilty. The clerk heard, so did the chairman, who heard the same words. The prisoner was discharged from the dock. Others of the . .
Cited – Regina v Mendy 1992
After a long fraud trial a majority direction was given. The foreman returned a verdict of guilty on count 1. He answered the question whether this was a verdict of ‘you all or by a majority’, ‘By a majority of us all.’ A disturbance at the back of . .
Cited – Regina v Carter and Canavan 1964
The court considered when a jury might change its verdict. . .
Cited – Regina v Russell CACD 20-Mar-1984
The defendant was charged with obstructing a police officer under the 1971 Act. The jury was given a majority direction, but when brought back to court about two hours later, at 3.16 pm, they had still been unable to reach a decision. The judge then . .
Cited – Regina v Andrews 1986
Two defendants were tried for causing injuries to one child. The jury convicted the female defendant, of positive acts of cruelty against the child and returned a verdict of not guilty of those acts in respect of the male defendant. After the police . .
Cited – Regina v Follen 1994
Juries – verdict alteration . .
Cited – Regina v Young (Stephen) CACD 30-Dec-1994
Jury Consulting Ouija Board – Serious Irregularity
It had been suggested that during their overnight stay in a hotel after retiring to consider their verdict, some of the jurors had consultated an ouija board to consult with the deceased, and to ask him who had been his killer. Having believed that . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Connor and another; Regina v Mirza HL 22-Jan-2004
Extension of Inquiries into Jury Room Activities
The defendants sought an enquiry as to events in the jury rooms on their trials. They said that the secrecy of a jury’s deliberations did not fit the human right to a fair trial. In one case, it was said that jurors believed that the defendant’s use . .
Cited – Regina v Tantram; Regina v Bibby etc CACD 24-May-2001
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy in have combined to put into the human food chain poultry meat which had been condemned as unfit. The jury after retiremen had indicated that they had reached agreement on some . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.154077

A licensee appealed his conviction saying that the statements made and relied upon should only have been put under caution.
Held: Maurice Kay J said:’there is force in Mr Stobart’s submission that in those circumstances any reasonable police officer would have suspected that an offence was being committed and would have suspected that the appellant, as the licensee, was one of the persons committing it.’ As to the question put to him, ‘The appellant might answer the question in a number of ways. He might answer it truthfully or untruthfully, but it is a fundamental observation that he was being invited to incriminate himself if he was in fact committing an offence. Moreover, according to Sergeant Scrivens, that is precisely what the appellant did, and as a result the evidence of what Sergeant Scrivens attributed to him became crucial in the subsequent trial.’

Judges:

Maurice Kay J

Citations:

[1998] EWHC Admin 212

Cited by:

Distinguished – Ridehalgh, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 23-May-2005
The appellant a police officer had arrived at work having been drinking. A senior officer asked if he had driven to work. He replied yes, and on that basis had been convicted of driving with excess alcohol. He appealed saying that the question . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.138333

A police officer who had left an unattended van so as to ‘invite’ thefts from it, was not involved in entrapment.

Citations:

Times 09-Mar-1993

Statutes:

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.90522

A Youth court has no power to remit a case to magistrates once a child reaches eighteen; It has the power to continue to deal with the case and must do so.

Citations:

Times 07-Apr-1998

Statutes:

Children and Young Persons Act 1963 29

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 April 2022; Ref: scu.88696

A Justices’ decision to try a large VAT fraud case summarily was unreasonable.

Citations:

Independent 23-Feb-1994

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.87462

The defendant appealed his conviction for murder wishing to bring in evidence of his diminished responsibility at the time of the offence.
Held: The evidence was admitted, but the conviction was upheld. The court took the opportunity to give guidance on the admission of new medical evidence procedures in court of appeal with new Act. As to the admission of new expert evidence on appeal: ‘The section (s.23 as amended) makes plain that in the exercise of its discretion whether to receive evidence or not the court must be guided above all by what it considers necessary or expedient in the interest of justice. The section does however acknowledge, in subsection (2)(d), the crucial obligation on a defendant in a criminal case to advance his whole defence and any evidence on which he relies before the trial jury. He is not entitled to hold evidence in reserve and then seek to introduce it on appeal following conviction. While failure to give a reasonable explanation for failure to adduce the evidence before the jury is not a bar to reception of the evidence on appeal, it is a matter which the court is obliged to consider in deciding whether to receive the evidence or not.
The Court has in the past accepted that section 23 may apply to expert evidence, and we would not wish to circumscribe the operation of a statutory rule enacted to protect defendants against the risk of wrongful conviction. But it seems unlikely that the section was framed with expert evidence prominently in mind. The requirement in subsection (2)(a) that the evidence should appear to be capable of belief applies more aptly to factual evidence than to expert opinion, which may or may not be acceptable or persuasive but which is unlikely to be thought to be incapable of belief in an ordinary sense. The giving of a reasonable explanation for failure to adduce the evidence before the jury again applies more aptly to factual evidence of which a party was unaware, or could not adduce, than to expert evidence, since if one expert is unavailable to testify at a trial a party would ordinarily be expected to call another unless circumstances prevented this. Expert witnesses, although inevitably varying in standing and experience, are interchangeable in a way in which factual witnesses are not. It would clearly subvert the trial process if a defendant, convicted at trial, were to be generally free to mount on appeal an expert case which, if sound, could and should have been advanced before the jury’, but the court must be careful not ‘to circumscribe the operation of a statutory rule enacted to protect defendants against the risk of wrongful conviction.’

Judges:

Lord Bingham CJ

Citations:

Times 23-Jul-1996, [1997] 1 Cr App R 86

Statutes:

Criminal Appeal Act 1968 23, Criminal Appeal Act 1995

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Winzar v Regina CACD 20-Dec-2002
The defendant appealed conviction for the murder of her husband. It was said she had injected him with a fatal dose of insulin. He was incapacitated but not diabetic.
Held: The deceased’s brain had been destroyed before any prosecution was . .
Cited – Bowman, Regina v CACD 2-Mar-2006
The defendant appealed his conviction of murder saying that evidence of other pathologists undermined the evidence given by similar experts for the crown.
Held: The court took the opportunity to give guidance on the provision of expert . .
Cited – Regina v Weekes CACD 18-Feb-1999
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder saying that at the time of the offence he suffered a paranoid psychotic illness which would have substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts. He was not regarded as insane as . .
Cited – Meachen v Regina CACD 5-Aug-2009
The defendant appealed against his conviction for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, asking the court to admit further evidence from an expert who had given evidence at the trial and further confirmatory evidence.
Held: The appeal was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.87017

Defendant’s solicitors must seek leave of the court before investigating potential bias of a juror.

Citations:

Ind Summary 24-Apr-1995

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.87024