The defendant appealed against his conviction. He said that a witness could not be found and therefore did not attend the trial, but her statement had nevertheless been admitted as hearsay evidence.
Held: The right of a defendant to confront a witness is fundamental to a fair trial. If he is to forego that right, every effort must be shown to have been taken to attempt to trace the witness. In this case she had stated her reluctance to attend. A re-trial was ordered.

Judges:

Lord Justice Thomas, Mr Justice King and Judge Moss, QC

Citations:

[2009] EWCA Crim 1213, Times

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 2003 116(2)(d)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Horncastle and Others v Regina CACD 22-May-2009
Each defendant appealed on the basis that they had not had proper opportunity to cross examine prosecution witnesses whose evidence had been accepted by the court. In each case evidence had been hearsay. In two cases, the witness had died before . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 15 September 2022; Ref: scu.347227

A judge’s comments which were intended to undermine defence counsel, and other failings led to the conviction being set aside.

Judges:

Lord Justice Latham, Mr Justice Andrew Smith and Judge Scott Gall

Citations:

Times 16-Mar-2009

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 15 September 2022; Ref: scu.319876

Appeal by way of case stated from a decision of a magistrate whereby he found that the respondent, LO, had no case to answer on a charge of breach of a non-molestation order and on charges of assaulting the first complainant JH occasioning her actual bodily harm and common assault on the second complainant CK.

Judges:

Kerr LCJ, Nicholson LJ and Sheil LJ

Citations:

[2006] NICA 3

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Cited by:

Cited – Loughlin, Re Application for Judicial Review SC 18-Oct-2017
The court was asked as to the circumstances in which sentences passed on offenders who have given assistance to prosecuting authorities should be referred back to the sentencing court under section 74 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 14 September 2022; Ref: scu.238666

The admissibility of business and other documents was exclusively a matter of law for the determination of the judge.

Judges:

Rose LJ, Stanley Burton J, Hedley J

Citations:

Times 07-Mar-2006

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 2003 117

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 14 September 2022; Ref: scu.240169

The magistrates made a drug treatment order. The defendant breached it, and the magistrates then committed him to the Crown Court for sentence. He appealed that sentence.
Held: The court asked whether the magistrates had that power. Schedule 3 of paragraph 4 did not give the magistrates that power, and nor did section 4. The right approach was to consider what would be the likely requirement on a breach when considering whether the magistrates should themselves sentence the offender.

Judges:

Potter LJ, Mackay J

Citations:

Times 13-Feb-2003

Statutes:

Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 4(2) Sch3 para 4

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 14 September 2022; Ref: scu.179120

The court considered a complaint as to the prosecution’s failure to preserve evidence: ‘We recognise that in cases where evidence has been tampered with, lost or destroyed it may well be that a defendant will be disadvantaged. It does not necessarily follow that in such a case the defendant cannot have a fair trial or that it would be unfair for him to be tried.’

Judges:

Mantell LJ

Citations:

[1999] EWCA Crim 839, [2000] Crim LR 415

Links:

Bailii

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 – Ali, Altaf v Crown Prosecution Service, West Midlands CACD 22-Mar-2007
The defendant was first arrested in 1997, but only re-arrested in 2004. He complained that the delay affected his right to a fair trial within a proper time. The judge accepted this but the trial proceeded, the judge denying a claim of abuse of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 14 September 2022; Ref: scu.157239

Where counsel had genuinely omitted to request a good character direction from the judge, and the defendant was entitled to one and did not receive it, the defendant should be acquitted on appeal. It will rarely be possible for a court of appeal to say with safety that the direction would not have made a difference.

Citations:

Times 14-May-1999, [1999] EWCA Crim 930

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

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

Criminal Practice

Updated: 14 September 2022; Ref: scu.157330

Appeal – judge at trial said to have behaved unfairly

Citations:

[2020] EWCA Crim 1723

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 13 September 2022; Ref: scu.659217

This case involves consideration of two procedural issues, namely:
i) whether the Registrar of Criminal Appeals has the power, in certain circumstances, to determine the merits of an application to re-open a decision of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division); and
ii) depending, in part, on the answer to i), the role of the single judge and the full court in determining these applications.

Judges:

The Lord Burnett of Maldon CJ

Citations:

[2019] EWCA Crim 2101

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 13 September 2022; Ref: scu.645453

The court was asked whether the sentencing judge had power to vary the sentence imposed on this 44-year-old applicant following a conviction for rape, by virtue of section 155 of the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 after the 56-day period had elapsed.

Judges:

Moses LJ, Dobbs DBE J, Gordon HHJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Crim 906, [2011] Crim LR 659, [2011] 2 Cr App Rep (S) 116, [2011] 2 Cr App R (S) 116

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 155

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Sentencing, Criminal Practice

Updated: 13 September 2022; Ref: scu.440332

The court was asked ‘Does a court in England and Wales have the power under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to make a recovery order in favour of the trustee for civil recovery in respect of recoverable property outside this jurisdiction, whether moveable or immoveable?’
Hooper LJ justifified the extraterritorial effect, saying that if the appellants were correct: ‘a court in this jurisdiction would be unable to make a civil recovery order in respect of land or other property in Spain bought with the proceeds of crimes committed here by a person resident here. Unable to obtain a civil recovery order, the enforcement authority could not take any steps here to require the person to hand over the property in Spain. Nor (so it appears) could the United Kingdom take enforcement action in Spain pursuant to [the Strasbourg Convention] (to which I return below) because there would be no order of the court to enforce: see paragraph 81 below.’

Judges:

Maurice Kay VP, Hooper, Tomlinson LJJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Civ 578, [2011] Lloyds Rep FC 387, [2011] 3 Costs LO 292, [2011] CP Rep 36, [2011] 4 All ER 470, [2011] 1 WLR 2817

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, 1990 Strasbourg Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See Also – Serious Organised Crime Agency v Perry and Others Admn 30-Jul-2009
The respondents sought to have set aside a world wide asset freezing and associated orders obtained by SOCA against them. They said that the Court had no jurisdiction over them, and that the Agency was guilty of wilful non-disclosure. They first . .
See Also – Serious Organised Crime Agency v Perry and Others CA 29-Jul-2010
The court heard appeals against disclosure orders made under the 2002 Act. The appellants argued that neither the offence, nor the assets nor the appellants themselves were within the jurisdiction. . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Perry and Others v Serious Organised Crime Agency SC 25-Jul-2012
The first appellant had been convicted of substantial frauds in Israel. He appealed against world wide asset freezing (PFO) and disclosure (DO) orders made against him. Neither the appellant, nor his offences were connected with the UK. A bank . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 12 September 2022; Ref: scu.439823

The defendant appealed against his conviction. He had not been represented at trial, and several objections were taken to the conduct of the case, and in particular that prosecuting counsel had made a closing address, and that he had not been allowed to transfer his legal aid order to a different firm of solicitors.
Held: Under section 2 of the 1885 Act: ‘There is no doubt that the general rule is that prosecuting counsel is not allowed a second speech where a defendant has called no witnesses apart from himself.’ However, the convictions were nevertheless safe.

Judges:

Gage, Treacy, Bean JJ

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Crim 2030

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Procedure Act 1885 2

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Stovell, Regina v CACD 12-Jan-2006
The defendant appealed against his conviction. Before he gave evidence, his legal team withdrew for professional embarrassment. He now complained that notwithstanding that he was unrepresented, prosecuting counsel had been permitted to make a . .
Cited – Regina v Mondon CACD 1968
The appellant had been unrepresented throughout her trial. She appealed, complaining that the prosecutor had been allowed to make a closing speech.
Held: The conviction was quashed. Lord Justice Edmund Davies drew attention to the impact which . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Paul CACD 2013
The defendant complained that even though no closing speech had been made on his behalf, the judge had allowed prosecuting counsel to make a closing speech.
Held: There is a convention that prosecuting counsel should not make a closing address . .
Cited – Cojan, Regina v CACD 25-Nov-2014
The defendant appealed against his convictions for offences of rape and robbery. Towards the end of his trial, he had sacked his legal team, and had given no colsing address. He complained that the judge had even so allowed the prosecutor to ake an . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.277318

The defendant had been acquitted of murder, but had later confessed to it on a number of occasions. An order was sought quashing the acquittal to allow a retrial.
Held: An order was made under the 2003 Act. This was the first such application. For such an order there must be new and compelling evidence against the acquittal of a qualifying offence, and it must be in the interests of justice for a retrial. Those conditions were met. There was no injustice in ordering a retrial. The exception to the double jeopardy rule should not be applied only because confessions were made on the assumption that the rule would provide protection.

Judges:

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers LCJ, Sir Igor Judge, P, Silber J, Rafferty J, Openshaw J

Citations:

Times 14-Sep-2006

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 2003 Part 10

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Mielll, Regina v CACD 21-Dec-2007
The prosecutor appealed from the acquittal of the defendant on a charge of murder. He had subsequently been said to have admitted to the offence while in prison on other offences.
Held: The confessions did amount to new evidence within the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.245011

The defendant argued that the judge should have ensured that some members of the jury were black. He was a black man being tried by an all white jury, with a white victim and white witnesses.
Held: The judge had no part to play in the selection of a jury, and could not influence their composition. The Convention had not changed that. A defendant’s right to a fair trial was satisfied by an independent and impartial tribunal established at law. Applying Magill, a fair minded and informed observer would not have concluded that there was a real possibility of bias. It was not the case that the defendant could only get a fair trial if there had been members of his own race on the jury.

Judges:

Pill LJ, Hunt, Poitchford JJ,

Citations:

Times 03-Mar-2003

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

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 . .
Distinguished – 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 . .
Distinguished – Sander v The United Kingdom ECHR 9-May-2000
In a trial of an Asian defendant a juror complained that other jurors had made racist jokes, and feared that the defendant would not receive a fair trial. The judge obtained re-assurance from the jury that they would not so act, but did so in a way . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.179814

The defendant appealed his conviction for murder, saying the directions on provocation and diminished responsibility were flawed.
Held: The direction was correct. In cases where, as here, the jury directions are complex, it was a pity that counsel were not given a draft of the proposed direction and allowed to comment on it.

Judges:

Latham LJ, Gage, Eady JJ

Citations:

Times 08-Oct-2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.186634

Where there is a plea of guilty but there remains a conflict between the prosecution and defence as to the facts, the trial judge should approach the task of sentencing in one of three ways: a plea of not guilty can be entered to enable the jury to determine the issue; or the judge himself may hear evidence and come to his own conclusions; or the judge may hear no evidence and listen to the submissions of counsel. If the last of these options is chosen and there is a substantial conflict between the two sides, the version of the defendant must so far as possible be accepted. In the second case, evidence is called before the judge by the prosecution and the defence and the judge makes findings on the critical issues.
If the judge hears no evidence but merely listens to submissions of counsel and there ‘is a substantial conflict between the two sides he must come down on the side of the defendant. The version of the defendant must so far as possible be accepted’.
A hearing may not be required where the defednat’s assertion goes not to contradict the prosecution’s evidence but merely sought to minimise by assertion as to detail, the overall effect.
‘There are three ways in which a judge in these circumstances can approach his difficult task of sentencing. It is in certain circumstances possible to obtain the answer to the problem from a jury.
The second method which could be adopted by the judge in these circumstances is himself to hear evidence on one side and another, and come to his own conclusion acting so to speak as his own jury on the issue which is the root of the problem.
The third possibility in these circumstances is for him to hear no evidence but to listen to the submissions of counsel and then come to his conclusion. But if he does that then, as (the trial judge) himself said in a passage to which reference will be made in moment, where there is a substantial conflict between the two sides, he must come down on the side of the defendant. In other words, where there has been a substantial conflict, the version of the defendant must so far as possible be accepted.’

Citations:

[1983] 77 Cr App R 13, (1982) 4 Cr App R (S) 388, [1983] Crim LR 198

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Benfield; Regina v Sobers CACD 21-Jul-2003
The defendants appealed life sentences for second serious offences under s109. They had been convicted of robbery.
Held: The offence of robbery existed at the time when the 200 Act was created, and it was inconceivable that the new Act . .
Cited – Regina v Neal, Hood CACD 28-Nov-2003
The defendants appealed sentence for having been involved in the large scale importation of cigarettes evading customs duty.
Held: The judge had paid proper attention to Dosanjh. Having regard also to Czyzewski, the sentences were within the . .
Cited – Regina v Underwood; Regina v Arobieke; Regina v Khan; Regina v Connors CACD 30-Jul-2004
In each case the appeal arose from difficulties with Newton Hearings, where the defendant had wished to plead guilty but on a different version of the facts from that proposed by the prosecution.
Held: The court restated and emphasised the . .
Cited – Bradley, Regina v CACD 14-Jan-2005
The defendant complained that his criminal record had been placed before the jury under the Act, even though the proceedings had been begun before the commencement date.
Held: The provisions of the Act were procedural in nature and therefore . .
Cited – Goodyear, Karl, Regina v CACD 19-Apr-2005
The defendant complained that he had pleaded guilty to a charge of corruption on the basis of an indication from the judge that he would not receive a custodial sentence. Having pleaded guilty he had then been sentenced to a six months prison . .
Cited – Aspect Capital Ltd v Christensen ChD 29-Mar-2010
The defendant, a former senior employee had appeared dishonest and been dismissed. A search and seizure order was obtained, and the claimant now said that the defendant was in contempt of it. The parties disputed the extent of his admissions of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.186032

(Westminster Magistrates Court) Application on behalf of Julian Assange to have withdrawn an arrest warrant issued when Mr Assange did not surrender for extradition to Sweden.

Citations:

[2018] EW Misc B2 (MagC)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Bail Act 1976 7

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See Also – Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority SC 30-May-2012
The defendant sought to resist his extradition under a European Arrest Warrant to Sweden to face charges of sexual assaults. He said that the prosecutor who sought the extradition was not a judicial authority within the Framework Decision.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.633110

Whether criminal proceedings against the claimant in the Sheffield Magistrates’ Court were commenced out of time so that the court has no jurisdiction; or alternatively whether they should be stayed as an abuse of process.

Citations:

[2019] EWHC 2953 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 September 2022; Ref: scu.643840

Whether the Assistant Recorder was correct to rule that the co-defendant might cross-examine the appellant on her previous convictions.

Judges:

Lord Bingham of Cornhill LCJ

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Crim 1353, [1997] 1 WLR 1329, [1998] 1 Cr App R 338

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 September 2022; Ref: scu.465430

One defendant had been found when searched to have a plastic egg-shaped capsule with crack cocaine inside. He now appealed the direction given to the jury as to the evidence against him given by a co-defendant.
Held: The appeal was dismissed, but the standard Joint Studies Board direction on the evidence of co-accused should not be given where the defendants ran a cut throat defence: ‘Any warning would have had to apply to both defendants, and would have meant directing the jury to treat each defendant’s evidence with caution, just because it inculpated the other. That might have led to a complaint that the jury had not been allowed to approach the case with open minds. It was impossible in this case to give the normal warning.’

Citations:

[1999] EWCA Crim 1113, [2000] Crim LR 48

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Cheema CACD 5-Sep-1993
There is no rule requiring full a corroboration direction to be given for a co-defendant’s evidence to be admitted. The Court of Appeal recommended a review of law on corroboration of a witness’s evidence. Lord Taylor CJ said: ‘The rule of practice . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Jones and Jenkins CACD 6-Jun-2003
The two defendants appealed against their convictions for murder. On the prosecution case it was joint enterprise; Jones’ case was that both had indeed attacked the victim, but had caused him only minor injuries and that the fatal injuries had been . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 September 2022; Ref: scu.157513

Judges:

Stephens LJ, Deeny LJ and McBride J

Citations:

[2019] NICA 31

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 September 2022; Ref: scu.644084

Equivocal plea

Judges:

Morgan LCJ, Stephens LJ and Treacy LJ

Citations:

[2019] NICA 24

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

Jurisdiction:

Northern Ireland

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 September 2022; Ref: scu.644087

Practice after imposition of unlawful sentence

Citations:

[2006] EWCA Crim 3233

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 09 September 2022; Ref: scu.638798

The defendants were accused of assisting a person to evade a control order. On arrest their computers had been seized, and they now sought an order on an interim appeal to discharge the case under the 2000 Act of not providing passwords to encrypted material. They said that the Act required them to incriminate themselves.
Held: The encryption key existed separately from the defendant’s will, and was not distinct in character from the encrypted files. It was the equivalent to the key to a locked drawer, and was neutral, save that knowledge of the key might be an incriminating fact, and the privilege against self-incrimination might be engaged by a requirement of disclosure of knowledge of the means of access to protected data under compulsion of law. The 1984 Act could be used by the judge to deal with any unfairness which might arise in the trial.

Judges:

Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice, Mr Justice Penry-Davey and Mr Justice Simon

Citations:

Times 15-Oct-2005

Statutes:

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Terrorism Act 2000 58, European Convention on Human Rights 6, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 September 2022; Ref: scu.280411

The court considered a procedural error in an indictment.

Citations:

(1976) 64 Cr App R 68

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: 07 September 2022; Ref: scu.267625

The defendant appealed the decision of the court in a hearing under the 1964 Act that he had been involved in the offence at issue. He said the court had been wrong to admit hearsay evidence.
Held: The prosecution had had to present evidence under section 116(2)(d) of the 2003 Act, by way of a statement from a witness who had later absented himself. Such proceedings were ‘criminal proceedings in relation to which the strict rules of evidence apply.’ It was essential that the formal rules of evidence should apply. Scetion 4A proceedings should follow the fact-finding process of a full criminal trial as closely as possible. The evidence was admissible.

Judges:

Toulson LJ, Gibbs J, Andrew Smith J

Citations:

Times 26-Oct-2007

Statutes:

Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 4A, Criminal Justice At 2003 116(2)(d) 134(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v H (On appeal from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)) HL 30-Jan-2003
The defendant had been found unfit to stand trial, at a later hearing under the section, the jury had found that he had committed the act complained of. He was discharged but ordered to be placed on the sex offenders register. He appealed on the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 September 2022; Ref: scu.261363

A High Court judge had given leave to prefer a voluntary bill against the appellant, who was arraigned on six counts in the voluntary bill. He pleaded not guilty, was convicted on four counts and was sentenced. Relying on section 2 of the 1933 Act, he appealed saying that the voluntary bill had never been signed by the proper officer: without a signature, he argued, there could be no indictment, and without an indictment there could be no valid trial.
Held: The Court upheld the submission.

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ, McCowan and Pill JJ

Citations:

[1988] 87 Cr App R 9

Statutes:

Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 2(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Applied – Regina v Hodges (George David) CACD 5-Jun-1981
The court considered a claim that the indictment was invalid.
Held: Peter Pain J said: ‘It seems to us that it is impossible for a criminal trial to start without there being a valid indictment to which the defendant can plead, and that the . .
Distinguished – Regina v Price CACD 6-Nov-1985
The defendant appealed saying that after committal, the trial had proceeded on the basis of a voluntary bill of indictment, and he had been convicted on his own plea. He now appealed saying that the bill had not been signed as required.
Held: . .

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 . .
Cited – Regina v Janceski 18-Aug-2005
(Supreme Court of New South Wales) The NSW statute required that an indictment should be signed by any one of a number of persons specified in the section, including a person authorised by the Director of Public Prosecutions to sign indictments, and . .
Cited – Regina v Laming CACD 1989
The defendant appealed saying that the court clerk had signed the indictment in the wrong place.
Held: The signature had been intended to validate the indictment. The appeal failed. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 07 September 2022; Ref: scu.267621

Where the judge had found there to be no case to answer on a single count of violent disorder, he was entitled to leave the statutory alternative of using threatening behaviour, a summary offence, to the jury, and the not guilty verdict of the jury was no less true because it was returned by direction of the judge than when it was returned by the jury of their own volition after consideration of all the facts.

Citations:

[1990] 92 Cr App R 236

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Livesey CACD 15-Dec-2006
The defendant had been charged with putting somebody in fear of violence contrary to section 2 of the 1997 Act. The judge found no case to answer on the count but left it on the indictment. The defendant now appealed his conviction on the lesser . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 September 2022; Ref: scu.247884

The defendants complained that the judge had fallen asleep during counsels’ speeches. The judge admitted this.
Held: Whilst a judge should not do this the court should look to the effect on the particular trial, and beyond that mere fact. The summing up remained comprehensive balanced and otherwise adequate. No counsel had raised the issue at the time. Appeal dismissed.

Judges:

Rose LJ

Citations:

Times 28-Jan-2004

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 September 2022; Ref: scu.193417

Ambit of section 14(1) of the 2000 Act and its operation upon an application form for employment in a case where the applicant had previously suffered a conditional discharge.

Citations:

[2007] ICR 571, [2006] EWCA Crim 2689

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 14(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 06 September 2022; Ref: scu.638780

Citations:

[1850] EngR 180, (1850) 4 Exch 747, (1850) 154 ER 1417

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 04 September 2022; Ref: scu.297527

The defendant appealed after charges were added to the indictment after committal which related to matters arising after that committal.

Judges:

Thomas LJ, Silber, Sharp JJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Crim 102

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 32

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 03 September 2022; Ref: scu.430096

The appellants challenged the ruling of the judge in the second trial of a conspiracy to import drugs allowing evidence to be admitted that a person acquitted by the direction of the judge in the first trial was a party to the conspiracy.

Judges:

Thomas LJ, Wilkie, Macur JJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA Crim 345

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 03 September 2022; Ref: scu.430050

The defendant faced confiscation proceedings. The judge gave instructions to the listing office to give a later date for the hearing. The defendant said that the delay took the case out of the court’s jurisdiction to make an order.
Held: The judge’s act was in itself a valid postponment so as to extend the time limits.

Judges:

Lord Judge CJ, David Clarke, Lloyd Jones JJ

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Crim 1011, [2010] WLR (D) 116, [2010] 1 WLR 2395

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 14

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Soneji and Bullen HL 21-Jul-2005
The defendants had had confiscation orders made against them. They had appealed on the basis that the orders were made more than six months after sentence. The prosecutor now appealed saying that the fact that the order were not timely did not . .

Cited by:

Cited – Guraj, Regina v SC 14-Dec-2016
The defendant had pleaded to charges of possession of drugs with intent to supply. He was sentenced, but then the prosecutor was 14 months’ late serving its notice with regard to the confiscation order under section 16. The crown now appealed . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Sentencing

Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.414596

Complaint that a juror was a columnist for the Sun newspaper, and ‘an outspoken polemicist who holds strong and well publicised views on issues such as law and order, soft judges, knife crime, drugs and immigration which could be characterised as populist and tendentious. ‘

Judges:

Lord Justice Leveson

Citations:

[2009] EWCA Crim 2458

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.381512

The CPS sought leave to appeal against a terminating ruling. It had failed to produce and serve evidence on the defendant even after an adjournment for the purpose. The judge directed an acquittal and refused an adjournment to allow the CPS to consider an appeal. The CPS had failed to give notice under section 58 that the defendant would be acquitted if leave was not given or the appeal was abandoned.
Held: Rix LJ said: ‘if a right of appeal is claimed, then the Crown would naturally seek to rely on the provisions of section 58(3), (10) and (11) to prevent its appeal being ineffective. If an appeal is heard but dismissed, then it is for the court to acquit the defendant (section 61(3)). That leaves, however, the situation where the position is first frozen by reason of the intimation of an intention to appeal, but the appeal is not or cannot then be proceeded with. In that case, the Crown is put on terms that it will not seek to go behind the judge’s ruling, for instance by trying to argue that the ruling is not after all a terminating ruling. Where an acquittal is potentially of no effect, the defendant does need the protection of the Crown’s section 58(8) agreement and its notification to the judge.’

Judges:

Rix LJ

Citations:

[2009] EWCA Crim 2614

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 2003 58(8)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – NT, Regina v CACD 31-Mar-2010
The prosecutor appealed against a stay of the prosecution as an abuse. The prosecution had failed give the undertaking necessary on lodging the appeal to the court against whose ruling it wanted to appeal, that it agreed that the defendant should be . .
Cited – Regina v SH CACD 3-Aug-2010
The prosecutor had appealed immediately against the judge’s withdrawal of a charge of racially aggravated use of insulting words or behaviour. The judge then ignored his obligation to continue the trial without mentioning the issue to the jury. He . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.392903

The defendant appealed saying that after committal, the trial had proceeded on the basis of a voluntary bill of indictment, and he had been convicted on his own plea. He now appealed saying that the bill had not been signed as required.
Held: The court ordered a venire de novo so that the case would be tried again. It considered the overall justice of the case without close attention to the jurisdictional question and without considering whether the words in section 1 of the Act were mandatory or directory. Prosecuting counsel submitted that the absence of a signature was of no consequence since, with the form signed by the High Court judge in his possession, the proper officer had had nothing to consider and had had no choice but to sign it.
Lord Lane CJ said: ‘It seems to us that that argument to some extent tends to beg the question. Either the words are mandatory or they are not. If they are mandatory, it does not matter that there is nothing left for the proper officer to do except to sign. If on the other hand they are not mandatory, then it does not matter that there is something left for the officer to do and he still does not sign the indictment.’
Applying Liverpool Borough Bank, he said: ‘The answer, we feel, is to be found in the intentions of the draftsman in the first place. It seems to us that this Act was intended, so to speak, to fill the gap which was left by the abolition of the grand jury. It was intended to ensure not only that the proper requirements had been fulfilled before a trial proper could start, but that also there should be a certification by way of the signature of the proper officer to indicate that he had inquired into the situation and satisfied himself that the requirements of the subsection had properly been complied with. We have come to the conclusion therefore that it is not merely a comparatively meaningless formality that the proper officer’s signature should be appended, but it is, as the words of the Act itself prima facie indicate, a necessary condition precedent to the existence of a proper indictment, that the bill should be signed and only then and thereupon does it become an indictment.
Therefore in the present case there was no valid indictment, there was no trial, no valid verdict and no valid sentence.’

Judges:

Lord Lane CJ

Citations:

Unreported, 6 November 1985

Statutes:

Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 2(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Applied – Liverpool Borough Bank v Turner 1860
The court considered how to decide what would be the consequences of failing to comply with a statutory requirement. Lord Campbell CJ said that the court should look at the importance of the provisions in question and to look at the real intention . .

Cited by:

Distinguished – Regina v Morais CACD 1988
A High Court judge had given leave to prefer a voluntary bill against the appellant, who was arraigned on six counts in the voluntary bill. He pleaded not guilty, was convicted on four counts and was sentenced. Relying on section 2 of the 1933 Act, . .
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: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.267623

Citations:

[1850] EngR 129, (1850) 14 QB 568, (1850) 117 ER 219

Links:

Commonlii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.297476

The prosecution indicated that they would be prepared to accept a plea to a lesser charge than causing death by dangerous driving, namely careless driving. After comments from the judge, another prosecutor took over the case and the charge reverted. The defendant claimed this was an abuse of process.
Held: The defendant had known from the outset that the judge was unhappy with the lesser charge. Only a short time had passed, and he had not been prejudiced. Appeal dismissed.

Judges:

Rose LJ, Silbert, Fulford JJ

Citations:

Times 20-Jun-2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Distinguished – Regina v Bloomfield CACD 25-Jun-1996
It was an abuse of process to proceed with a prosecution in the face of an unequivocal statement by counsel for the Crown to the Court that the prosecution would tender no evidence. There was no change of circumstances which might have justified . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.183872

The defendant faced two charges on the same indictment, but no allegation was made of similar facts.
Held: In such circumstances there was a need for a clear direction that evidence on one charge did not point to guilt on the other. Otherwise the evidence might be wrongly be taken as cross admissible.

Judges:

Mantell LJ, Nelson, Jack JJ

Citations:

Times 09-Oct-2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.186973

The plaintiff sought judicial review of the DPP’s decision not to prosecute a husband suspected of buggery.
Held: The application succeeded. The Respondent had failed to consider the criteria required by the Code. However, the power to review the DPP’s decision in such a case must be sparingly exercised.
Kennedy LJ said: ‘in the context of the present case this court can be persuaded to act if and only if it is demonstrated to us that the Director of Public Prosecutions acting through the Crown Prosecution Service arrived at the decision not to prosecute:
1. because of some unlawful policy (such as the hypothetical decision in Blackburn not to prosecute where the value of goods stolen was below andpound;100); or
2. because the Director of Public Prosecutions failed to act in accordance with her own settled policy as set out in the Code; or
3. because the decision was perverse. It was a decision at which no reasonable prosecutor could have arrived.’
He discussed whether it was right even so to commence a prosecution, the CPS having advised the proposed defendant that no prosecution was to follow: ‘ in my judgment those matters are of comparatively little weight at this stage when the applicant could still if she wanted commence a private prosecution and has shown some indication of doing so. Were she to do so the Director of Public Prosecutions might or might not feel constrained to take it over and offer no evidence, but for present purposes the important matter is that the second respondent cannot claim to have been misled into thinking that he was free of all jeopardy. ‘

Judges:

Kennedy LJ

Citations:

[1995] 1 Cr App R 136

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ex Parte Manning, Ex Parte Melbourne QBD 17-May-2000
The applicants sought judicial review of the decision of the Director not to prosecute anybody after the death of their brother in prison custody, and while under restraint by prison officers. The jury at a coroner’s inquest had returned a verdict . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 September 2022; Ref: scu.396406

In attempting to prove that property represented the proceeds of crime, two paths were open to the prosecution. It could do so either by evidence that it derived from conduct of a specific kind or kinds and that conduct of that kind or those kinds was unlawful or by establishing that the circumstances in which the property was handled, gave rise to an irresistible inference that it could only be derived from crime: ‘there are two ways in which the Crown can prove the property derives from crime, a) by showing that it derives from conduct of a specific kind or kinds and that conduct of that kind or kinds is unlawful, or b) by evidence of the circumstances in which the property is handled which are such as to give rise to the irresistible inference that it can only be derived from crime’.

Judges:

Lord Justice Latham

Citations:

[2008] EWCA Crim 1354, Times 01-Sep-2008, [2009] 1 WLR 980, [2008] 2 Cr App R 36, [2008] Lloyd’s Rep FC 554, [2008] 4 All ER 582

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Wiese v The UK Border Agency Admn 29-Jun-2012
The claimant challenged a decision to seize a sustantial sum of cash being carried by him whilst passing through London City Airport. In the magistrates court, the claimant had objected to the reliance on parts of a customs officer’s statement which . .
Cited – Fletcher v Leicestershire Constabulary Admn 1-Nov-2013
The claimant had been called upon to repair an unoccupied flat damaged by fire. He found a metal box containing andpound;18,000 in cash. He took it to the police. He now resisted their assertion that this represented the proceeds of crime and should . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 September 2022; Ref: scu.270457

The discovery of fresh evidence after a trial, and when used as a basis for an appeal, must always be considered in the context of the way the defence was conducted. If the evidence would not have been used in any event, then it was very unlikely that the discovery of the fresh evidence would render the conviction unsafe.

Judges:

Lord Justice Judge, Mr Justice Hooper and Mrs Justice Hallett

Citations:

Times 25-Oct-2001

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 01 September 2022; Ref: scu.166708

Citations:

[2013] EWHC 4591 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 31 August 2022; Ref: scu.551755

The court was asked whether there could be deployment at the trial of things said by the defendant’s counsel at a pre-trial review.
Held: Pre-trial reviews had no statutory basis. Whilst many judges and practitioners might welcome a pre-trial review having the force of law, until a change, a pre-trial review was to be regarded as an essentially voluntary discussion about matters affecting a forthcoming trial. It took place on the understanding that nothing said at such a hearing could be used at the trial without the consent of the other party. Under that approach there was no discretion on the part of the court whether to admit or exclude such evidence. It simply was not admissible, because of the very nature of the discussion and the understanding upon which the parties embarked on it.

Citations:

[1986] 82 Crim App R 51

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 31 August 2022; Ref: scu.430687

Prosecution application for leave to appeal against a terminating ruling

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Crim 2243, (2010) 174 JP 582

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.425633

A witness said that she knew the accused, had seen him in a public house and entertained him to dinner, but did not know his name, where he lived, or anything of importance about him. No identification parade had been held despite the accused having denied that the witness knew him and having expressly requested a parade.
Held: The dock identification of the defendant was too weak to support a conviction.

Citations:

(1990) 91 Cr App R 143

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – John v The State PC 16-Mar-2009
(Trinidad and Tobago) The defendant appealed his conviction for murder. The evidence against him was of identification by a man, also criminally involved, who had been given immunity. No identification parade was held.
Held: It was clear from . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.321824

The prosecutor sought leave to appeal against a trial judge’s ruling of no case to answer.
Held: On considering such an application the sole consideration was not whether there was a realistic chance of success. In this case there was little public interest in pursuing the appeal. The appeal failed.

Judges:

Lord Justice Scott Baker, Mr Justice Coulson and Mr Justice Maddison

Citations:

Times 03-Oct-2008

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 2003 58

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.279864

The order of the court is the order pronounced by the judge in open court.

Citations:

[1982] 77 Cr App R 120

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Norman and Others, Regina v CACD 20-Jul-2006
The defendant said that the judge in setting his sentence had failed correctly to identify the time he had spent in custody awaiting trial, and which would act as time served.
Held: The defendants were entitled to a direction. If the time for . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.244715

The defendant appealed his conviction. He complained that the judge had not given the full good character direction, on the basis of a previous conviction for driving whilst uninsured.
Held: Whether to withhold the direction was a matter for the judge’s discretion. Driving without insurance might be anything from a flagrant offence to a technical one. The direction should not be withdrawn without the judge kowing the circumstances of the conviction. The failure to give a direction was a non-direction, but the giving of a bad character direction was a mis-direction. The direction went here as to credibility, but that had not been an issue in this case.

Judges:

Mantell LJ, Elias, Jack JJ

Citations:

Times 27-Oct-2003

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.187200

The applicant sought leave to appeal refusal of a judicial review of the decision of the respondent with regard to the taxation of his costs under a defendant’s costs order. The review had been refused as out of time and without merit.
Held: The Court of Appeal could not hear an appeal from the High Court in a criminal matter, which would include this matter, and had no jurisdiction to deal with the case before it.

Judges:

Lord Justice Brooke

Citations:

[2002] EWCA Civ 1248

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Supreme Court Act 1981 18(1)(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Carr v Atkins CA 1987
The police had applied to a judge for an order under the 1984 Act requiring the applicant, a suspect in a fraud investigation, to produce documents falling within the definition of ‘special procedure documents’ under the Act. The applicants sought . .

Cited by:

Cited – Ew v Director of Public Prosecutions and Others CA 11-Feb-2010
The claimant was subject to an order requiring him to obtain leave before commencing any civil proceedings. He commenced a private prosecution which the respondent later decided to take over and discontinue. He sought judicial review of that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Costs, Criminal Practice

Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.175242

Appeal raise the difficulty from the point of view of appellants as to verdicts which depend upon the credibility of one witness where the jury convict on one and acquit on another.

Judges:

Moses LJ, Keneth Parker J, Bevan QC HHJ

Citations:

[2010] EWCA Crim 2422

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 28 August 2022; Ref: scu.426765

Judges:

Davis J

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 861 (Admin), [2004] 3 WLR 906, [2005] QB 133, [2004] 3 All ER 1077, [2004] ACD 51

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1988

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Criminal Practice

Updated: 27 August 2022; Ref: scu.195906

The defendant was charged with a murder. The very manner of the killing suggested that he was at the time of the killing in a state of uncontrolled frenzy. However, Russell LJ said: ‘We take the law to be that wherever there is material which is capable of amounting to provocation, however tenuous it may be, the jury must be given the privilege of ruling upon it.’

Judges:

Russell LJ

Citations:

(1992) 95 Cr App R 326, [1994] 2 All ER 752

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Bullard v The Queen PC 1957
The question was whether there was evidence on which the jury could have found a verdict of manslaughter on grounds of provocation rather than the verdict of murder which had been returned.
Held: There is naturally a tendency for an appellate . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Miao CACD 17-Nov-2003
The defendant appealed his conviction for murder. His main defence had been that there had been no intention to kill, but the judge had refused to leave to the jury the possibility of provocation.
Held: There was evidence of potentially . .
Cited – Van Dongen and Another, Regina v CACD 5-Jul-2005
The defendant brothers appealed convictions for murder. They had pleaded self defence. The injuries on the deceased suggested a substantial number of wounds were inflicted when he was in a curled up defensive post.
Held: The provocation . .
Doubted – Miao, Regina v CACD 17-Nov-2003
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder. He said that the judge should have left to the jury the issue of whether there had been provocation.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘It is for the judge to decide if there is evidence of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 27 August 2022; Ref: scu.188248

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 told the jury that there was no need to rush, but indicated that he would bring the jury back to court at about 4 pm unless they reached a decision before then. The jury was in fact brought back to court at 4.07 pm, and when asked if they had reached a verdict on which at least 10 of them agreed the foreman said ‘no’. The members of the jury were not asked if they were likely to reach a verdict and were simply discharged. A few minutes later the jury bailiff said that the jury has asked for a few more minutes. The judge allowed them to, and the returned a guilty verdict. The defendant appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Once a jury had been told that they were discharged from reaching a verdict, they were functus officio, that was an end of that particular trial, and any subsequent proceedings were a nullity.
Popplewell J said: ‘The primary point that is taken in this appeal is that once the jury has been discharged by the Assistant Recorder no agreement by his counsel to the continuation to the trial could put the matter right. That argument is not founded on any authority that counsel could have been able to find. Counsel for the prosecution, in helpful address to the court, has submitted that once the jury have been told that they are discharged from reaching a verdict in the matter that is the end of that particular trial, and that any subsequent proceedings are a nullity because the jury, having been discharged, are functus officio.
In our judgment that is a good argument. When the jury returned the Assistant Recorder should have asked them whether there was any sensible prospect of their reaching agreement if they had more time.’

Judges:

Dunn LJ, Michael Davies, Popplewell JJ

Citations:

[1984] Crim LR 425, [1984] 148 JP 765

Statutes:

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 23(4)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v Millward CACD 7-Apr-1998
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice

Updated: 27 August 2022; Ref: scu.192263