Two defendants appealed in respect of alleged offences under common law of causing a public nuisance. One had sent race hatred material, and the other bomb hoaxes, through the post. Both claimed that the offence was so ill defined as to be an infringement of their rights. Held: The offence of causing a public nuisance … Continue reading Goldstein, Rimmington v Regina: CACD 28 Nov 2003
The defendant appealed against a confiscation order. He had used a company to defraud suppliers on the continent of substantial sums. He said that his involvement in the conspiracy was only toward the later end and that he had received no benefit in fact. Held: The court may often be entitled to make robust inferences … Continue reading Olubitan v Regina: CACD 7 Nov 2003
The appellant had been convicted of having a pointed article with him in a public place. He said that the car he was driving had needed an instrument to operate the lock. At first he had used a knife, but then used scissors, losing the knife in the car. Held: The jury must be required … Continue reading Jolie v Regina: CACD 23 May 2003
Six appeals concerned a number of aspects of the new Conditional Fee Agreement. Held: It should be normal for a CFA, redacted as necessary, to be disclosed for costs proceedings where a success fee is claimed. If a party seeks to rely on the CFA, as a matter of fairness she should ordinarily be put … Continue reading Hollins v Russell etc: CA 22 May 2003
The claimant sought damages for false imprisonment and assault after her wrongful arrest. She had waived her handbag at an officer investigating a disturbance and been arrested. The police said the arrest was lawful, she being suspected of common assault. Held: The judge was entitled to take the view that, taking the evidence at its … Continue reading Jarrett v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police: CA 14 Feb 2003
JUDGMENT SUMMARY (Not part of the judgment of the Court) The judgment which is being handed down today relates to an Attorney General’s Reference and three appeals against sentence. The cases have been listed together to enable the Court to decide whether to give sentencing guidelines for the offences of causing death by dangerous driving … Continue reading Cooksley, Stride, Cook, Crump v Regina; Attorney General’s Reference No 152 of 2002: CACD 3 Apr 2003
The appellant sought to resist the registration here of a confiscation order made in the US. She argued it would be contrary to the interests of justice to register it, that the US procedure would be unlawful here under the Convention, the appeal having been held in her absence. Held: It could not be said … Continue reading Barnette v Government of the United States of America; United States Government v Montgomery (No 2): CA 24 Mar 2003
The claimant was awarded damages for injuries suffered in his work as a seaman. The respondents claimed that he should not receive damages, since he had made false declarations as to his health in order to obtain employment, hiding his epilepsy condition. Held: Clunis established that the court would not support an action founded upon … Continue reading Hewison v Meridian Shipping Pte, Coflexip Stena Offshore Ltd, Flex Installer Offshore Ltd: CA 11 Dec 2002
The defendants were prosecuted for various offences relating to the selling and marketing of veterinary products without being licensed. Their cases were dismissed, when the prosecution put forward evidence as to the nature of what was being sold, but only in the form of the labels on the packages. The defence successfully argued that chemical … Continue reading Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v Atkinson, Hughes: QBD 9 Oct 2002
The appellants challenged the legality under European law of orders under the Act restricting their freedom of movement, after suspicion of involvement in football violence. Held: Although the proceedings under which orders were made were civil, the standard of proof required was virtually that of a criminal court. Public policy could be used to justify … Continue reading Gough and Another v Chief Constable of Derbyshire: CA 20 Mar 2002
The defendant was accused of murder. He had been identified by a witness who knew him, but the witness himself was murdered before the trial. The court allowed the prosecutor to read the deceased witness’ statement. Another witness for whom an ID parade had been held had only seen the defendant from the rear, but … Continue reading Regina v Nolan: CACD 15 Feb 2002
The applicant had been convicted in 1990 of conspiracy to cause explosions. He had been arrested by means of an unlawful eviction from Zimbabwe, and his appeal had been successful after ten years in prison. He now appealed against a refusal to award him compensation for his imprisonment, and said that the provision of ex … Continue reading Regina (on the Application of Mullen) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department: QBD 21 Feb 2002
The applicants had either been acquitted of drugs trafficking offences, or were third parties. In each case, property had been taken into receivership, and orders had been made for the receivers to take their costs from the assets taken. The proprietors appealed that part of the orders. Held: The receiver is an officer of the … Continue reading Hughes and Others v HM Customs and Excise: Admn 21 Dec 2001
The claimant objected to the use by the respondent of orders under the 1988 Act to produce records for investigation and tracing proceeds. Held: Simon Brown LJ said: ‘In my judgment, therefore, it would be wrong to construe the words in section 93H(1) ‘an investigation into whether any person has benefited from any criminal conduct’ … Continue reading Regina v Guildford Crown Court, Ex Parte Director of Public Prosecutions; Regina v Southwark Crown Court, Ex Parte Bowles: QBD 29 Oct 1996
The defendants had been required to enter into a recognisance to be of good behaviour after disrupting a hunt by blowing of a hunting horn. They were found to have unlawfully caused danger to the dogs. Though there had been no breach of the peace, they had acted contrac bonos mores. They complained that the … Continue reading Hashman and Harrup v The United Kingdom: ECHR 25 Nov 1999
The applicant, aged 17, was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to life imprisonment in the interests of public safety, being considered by the trial judge on appeal to be dangerous. Held: ‘The court agrees with the Commission and the applicant that the clearly stated purpose for which [the] sentence was imposed, taken together with … Continue reading Weeks v The United Kingdom: ECHR 2 Mar 1987
(Trinidad and Tobago) The appellant had been charged in 1981 with offences alleged to have been committed shortly before. The proceedings continued until his appeal for one was dismissed in 1988. The wounding charges were proceeded with only in 1994. He complained that the delay was an abuse, and his appeal succeeded. The prosecutor now … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions and others v Tokai and others: PC 12 Jun 1996
A County Court may stay a right to buy application by the tenant, even though terms had been agreed, in order to await the result of court proceedings for possession against the secure misbehaving tenant. A court’s case management powers can be invoked to determine substantive rights. Judges: Lord Goff of Chieveley, Lord Lloyd of … Continue reading City Council of Bristol v Lovell: HL 26 Feb 1998
Lord Woolf MR said that where the original proceedings are brought by a public authority, an appeal is part of those proceedings to which section 22(4) applies: ‘In our judgment, where the original proceedings are brought by, or at the instigation of, a public authority, as is the case with a prosecution, an appeal by … Continue reading Regina v Benjafield, Leal, Rezvi and Milford: CACD 21 Dec 2000
The minimum approriate sentence for an offence of s18 wounding was 4 years. Judges: Lord Bingham Citations: [1996] EWCA Crim 1070, [1997] 1 Cr App R (S) 363 Links: Bailii Statutes: Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 18 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Attorney-General’s Reference No 88 of 2000 CACD 2001 The … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference No 36 of 1996 Under Section 36 of Criminal Justice Act 1988: Regina v Johnson: CACD 15 Oct 1996
Where the judge decided that no inference could be drawn from the defendant’s silence, because of the absence of facts which could have been mentioned, he had a duty positively to warn the jury not arbitrarily to draw adverse inferences from the silence. He had been wrong to leave it open to the jury to … Continue reading Regina v McGarry: CACD 16 Jul 1998
The appellants sought compensation for their imprisonment having been (Mr Brannan’s father) wrongly convicted. They sought to bring in new evidence. The first appellant and the second appellant’s father had been convicted of murder. The second appeal was after the police finally revealed evidence supporting the defendants’ defence that the victim had been armed. Held: … Continue reading Regina (Murphy) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Brannan) v Same: Admn 10 Feb 2005
There is no residual common law power of entry for police to enter into premises to execute a search without first obtaining a warrant, beyond that contained in the Act. The Act was intended to provide a complete statement of the powers of entry for the purpose identified by the section, namely searching a property … Continue reading Regina (Michael Rottman) v Commissioner of Police for Metropolis and Secretary of State for Home Department: Admn 24 Jul 2001
The court considered the extent to which the defendants in the proceedings can rely on their beliefs as to the unlawfulness of the United Kingdom’s actions in preparing for, declaring, and waging war in Iraq in 2003 in a defence to a charge of criminal damage. Held: International law was to be allowed for in … Continue reading Jones and Milling, Olditch and Pritchard, and Richards v Gloucestershire Crown Prosecution Service: CACD 21 Jul 2004
The defendant appealed his conviction saying the prosecution had failed to disclose an additional earlier and contradictory statement of a central prosecution witness. Held: The statement was of a witness whose evidence had been relied upon by the court and was startlingly different. The applicant having served his sentnce it would be wrong to order … Continue reading Regina v Liverpool Crown Court ex parte Robert Moss: Admn 13 Nov 1996
The defendant was convicted of an offence to which section 15 of the Theft Act did not apply. It involved a deception of the auditors of BCCI in concealing a number of substantial loans made to a group of companies run by the defendant. Buxton J had considered that Rees was confined to its own … Continue reading Abbas Kassimali Gokal v Serious Fraud Office: CA 16 Mar 2001
The applicant had been detained pending extradition to the United States on charges of fraud. He said the evidence would not have been sufficient to justify his committal for trial. Held: The Francis case did not establish that the 1984 Act did not apply to extradition procceedings, and they might also be admissible under the … Continue reading In Re Levin; Regina v Governor of Brixton Prison, Ex parte Levin: HL 10 Apr 1997
The Attorney General referred the sentences as too lenient for armed robbery, and aggravated vehicle taking. The defendants worked as a team, and used an imitation firearm, and threatened a victim with it. Held: The possession of firearms should be regarded as an aggravating feature in relation to other offences. When passing sentence, it is … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference No 88 of 2002 (Hahn and Webster): CACD 7 Nov 2003
(Court for Crown Cases Reserved) The defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud a judgment creditor of the fruits of a judgment by dishonestly backdating a dissolution of their partnership to a date prior to a bill of sale given by Railton to Cox in respect of his assets. The trial judge permitted the prosecution … Continue reading Regina v Cox and Railton: 1884
When a court considered ordering a restriction on reporting of a case until after it was concluded, it had a three stage test to apply. First, would the reporting create a not insubstantial risk of prejudice. If there was no such risk, an order could not be made. Second, would an order reduce or remove … Continue reading Regina v Sherwood, ex parte The Telegraph Group plc and Others: CACD 12 Jun 2001
An application had been made for a production order under section 93H of the 1988 Act which was concerned with the recovery of the proceeds of criminal conduct. The issue was whether an order obtained for the purpose of assisting in the recovery of the proceeds of criminal conduct could be used also in relation … Continue reading Regina v Southwark Crown Court, Ex Parte Bowles (On Appeal From A Divisional Court of the Queen’s Bench Division): HL 7 Apr 1998
A magistrate ordering the transfer of a prisoner to Ireland must be satisfied that a sufficiently serious offence was alleged, but strict evidence was not required. As to the 1988 Act, the evidence must at least be admissible. Citations: Times 20-Jan-1998, [1998] EWHC Admin 6, [1998] I Cr App R 14 Links: Bailii Statutes: Backing … Continue reading Regina v Governor of Belmarsh Prison and Another Ex Parte Gilligan: QBD 20 Jan 1998
The defendant had hit a mother in the face as she held the child. The force was sufficient to cause her to drop the child causing injury to the child. He appealed against a conviction for beating the child. Held: The appeal failed. A battery could be inflicted even though the force actually used was … Continue reading Haystead v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 2 Jun 2000
A knife fell from the defendant’s jeans during the course of a police search. He claimed to have forgotten about it. Held: It is important to concentrate on the time in respect of which the defendant is charged. Six days earlier he had the knife on him for a good reason, because the justices found … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Gregson: QBD 23 Sep 1992
An appeal under section 159 can be made even after the reporting restriction order has been discharged. Judges: Lord Lane CJ Citations: [1991] 1 WLR 4 Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1988 159 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Sarker, Regina v CACD 13-Jun-2018 The defendant was to face trial under the 2006 Act. … Continue reading Ex parte Central Independent Television: 1991
K, aged 16, had left home to join what was said to be a religious sect. His whereabouts were unknown. He had been made a ward of court and the Official Solicitor was appointed to represent his interests. He had sent messages to say that he was well and did not wish to return. The … Continue reading Kelly (A Minor) v British Broadcasting Corporation: FD 25 Jul 2000
The council had taken the applicant’s children into care alleging that the mother had harmed them. In the light of the subsequent cases casting doubt on such findings, the mother sought the return of her children. She applied now that the hearings be in public. Held: The applicant and her solicitors had already made significant … Continue reading Kent County Council v The Mother, The Father, B (By Her Children’s Guardian); Re B (A Child) (Disclosure): FD 19 Mar 2004
For possession of an indecent image of a child to be proved, it was necessary to establish some knowledge of its existence. Images stored without the defendant’s knowledge by browser software in a hidden cache, of which he was also unaware, were not such, and a conviction was quashed. The situation was akin to a … Continue reading Atkins v Director of Public Prosecutions; Goodland v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 8 Mar 2000
The claimants challenged the instruction that they must squat whilst undergoing a strip search in prison. A dog search had given cause to supect the presence of explosives in the wing, and the officers understood that such explosives might be hidden anally. Held: The common thread in all the cases has been the search to … Continue reading Regina v Carroll and Al-Hasan and Secretary of State for Home Department: Admn 16 Feb 2001
The defendant had been convicted of a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts, though no violence had been undertaken. He appealed a life sentence with a minimum term of forty years. Held: The minimum term should be reduced to thirty years. The element of protection of the public was achieved by the life sentence, and that … Continue reading Regina v Barot: CACD 16 May 2007
The defendant appealed against a confiscation order, challenging the standard of proof applied by the judge. Held: The judge was entitled to include in his consideration, the evidence given at the trial as well as that on the confiscation application. He was to apply the civil standard of proof. That power was in 71(7A), which … Continue reading Regina v Levin: CACD 29 Jan 2004
A restraint order had been made against O in an action under the 1988 Act. He sought a variation. On the application of the prosecutor he was ordered to file an affidavit of means. He sought to appeal, but the prosecutor said no appeal lay. Held: An appeal was possible. It succeeded only to the … Continue reading In Re O (Restraint Order: Disclosure of Assets): 1991
21 people protested peacefully on the verge of the A344, next to the perimeter fence at Stonehenge. Some carried banners saying ‘Never Again,’ ‘Stonehenge Campaign 10 years of Criminal Injustice’ and ‘Free Stonehenge.’ The officer in charge concluded that they constituted a ‘trespassory assembly’ and told them so. When asked to move off, many did, … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Jones and Lloyd: HL 4 Mar 1999
The court has a discretion to refuse to accept written evidence from a witness abroad who had refused to come here for fear of reprisals, and particularly so where the prosecution had failed to take advantage of procedures which would have allowed the defence to cross examine the witness. Citations: Times 07-Oct-1998 Statutes: European Convention … Continue reading Regina v Radak; Regina v Adjei; Regina v Butler-Rees; Regina v Meghjee: CACD 7 Oct 1998
Administrative Discretion to be Used Reasonably The applicant challenged the manner of decision making as to the conditions which had been attached to its licence to open the cinema on Sundays. It had not been allowed to admit children under 15 years of age. The statute provided no appeal procedure, and the applicant sought a … Continue reading Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation: CA 10 Nov 1947
(Redacted) The court was asked to consider the meaning of ‘torture’ from events in a rebellion in Liberia in 1990. The CACD certified the following point of law of general public importance: ‘What is the correct interpretation of the term ‘person acting in an official capacity’ in section 134(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988; … Continue reading Taylor, Regina v: SC 13 Nov 2019
The defendant had been convicted of murder in Scotland. He requested a transfer to an English prison. The trial judge recommended a tariff of eight years which was eventually set at 12 years by the respondent. That figure also exceeded the maximum recommended by the English judges who had reviewed the sentence. He complained that … Continue reading McFetrich, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: Admn 30 Jun 2003
A bank, having been informed that the activities of a customer involved money laundering, found itself in a position where, if it paid out the funds, it would face conviction, but if it failed to do so, it be found to be involved in tipping off the customer. Held: This is one of the few … Continue reading Bank of Scotland v A Ltd and Others (Serious Fraud Office, Interested Party): CA 6 Feb 2001
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 should have been put to him under caution. The magistrates said: ‘we … Continue reading Ridehalgh, Regina (on the Application of) v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 23 May 2005
The accused had sought to recover the previous convictions of the complainant not from the prosecution, but from the Scottish Criminal Record Office. Held: The appeal court came down firmly against permitting defence agents to recover the previous convictions of Crown witnesses: ‘In my opinion, there are very sound reasons why a diligence in these … Continue reading HM Advocate v Ashrif: 1988
The Court considered the following question: ‘What is the correct interpretation of the term ‘person acting in an official capacity’ in section 134(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988; in particular does it include someone who acts otherwise than in a private and individual capacity for or on behalf of an organisation or body which … Continue reading TRA, Regina v (Redacted Judgment): SC 13 Nov 2019
The defendant appealed his sentence of five years after conviction for causing grievous bodily harm. Held: Care should be taken only to place relience upon guideline cases. Particular care should be adopted when considering Attorney General’s References unless they expressed themselves to be of general application, since in those cases the court was considering principally … Continue reading Regina v Lyon: CACD 12 May 2005
The Attorney General referred a sentence for inflicting grievous bodily harm in a ‘road rage’ situation. Held: The section 18 offence should have attracted a sentence of four years after a trial. Citations: [2001] EWCA Crim 68 Statutes: Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 818 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Cited – Attorney General’s Reference … Continue reading Attorney-General’s Reference No 88 of 2000: CACD 2001
The defendants had created limited companies for the sole purpose of making fraudulent reclaims of VAT. They appealed confiscation orders which attributed to each of them the whole sum received by the companies, rather than a proportionate part. Held: When looking at what property was owned by a defendant when considering a confiscation order and … Continue reading Regina v May; Regina v Bravard; Regina v Stapleton: CACD 28 Jan 2005
Evidence in support of an application for a witness’ statement which was to be read out, should be supported by oral evidence, though that may properly be given by a police officer. Citations: (1991) 92 Cr App R 98 Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1988 23(3) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Lobban, Regina … Continue reading Regina v Acton Justices ex parte McMullen and others: CACD 1991
The court considered the approach to be taken by an appellate court asked to review a sentence said to be unduly lenient: ‘The first thing to be observed is that it is implicit in the section that this Court may only increase sentences which it concludes were unduly lenient. It cannot, we are confident, have … Continue reading Attorney-General’s Reference (No 4 of 1989): CACD 1990
Local authority case records and a verbatim extract from the case records which had been exhibited to an affidavit from a social worker had been disclosed. Held: Booth J asked as to the case records: ‘whether the words in the section ‘information relating to proceedings’ should be construed to cover documents which do not themselves … Continue reading In re S (Minors) (Wardship: Police Investigation); Re S (Minors) (Wardship: Disclosure of Material): FD 1987
The judge at trial had refused to set aside a subpoena to produce documents which had been served on behalf of the accused in a criminal trial. Held: Caulfield J said: ‘I think the correct principle is this, and I think it must be restricted to these particular facts in a criminal trial, and the … Continue reading Regina v Barron: 1971
The A-G sought leave to refer as unduly lenient a sentence imposed on the defendant. The judge had written down his reasons but had not read them out in court. Held: The defendant was of low IQ and with other mental health problems. The judge had given reasons but then provided detailed reasons only in … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference (No 96 of 2009); Regina v F: CACD 11 Feb 2010
The Attorney General referred the defendant’s sentence to the court as being unduly lenient. The judge had remarked as to the overcrowding of prisons. He had passed a suspended sentence of 12 months in a young offenders’ institution with 100 hours community service for possession with intent to supply of a class A drug. Held: … Continue reading Attorney General’s Reference (No 11 of 2006) Regina v Scarth: CACD 21 Mar 2006
The defendant was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by making a false allegation of assault against the police. It was said that he must have made a false statement in his application for legal aid for the purpose of bringing his civil action for assault. The 1974 Act made it an … Continue reading Regina v Snaresbrook Crown Court, ex parte Director of Public Prosecutions: 1988
The defendant complained that the judge had not left an alternate verdict of careless driving to the jury where he had been charged with driving a motor vehicle on the road recklessly. Held: The conviction was quashed. Mustill LJ said: ‘These cases bear out the conclusion, which we should in any event have reached, that … Continue reading Regina v Fairbanks: CACD 1986
Two women parties used funds generated by a joint business venture to buy a house in which they lived together. It was vested in the sole name of the plaintiff but on the understanding that they were joint beneficial owners. The purpose of the arrangement was so that false benefit claims could be made to … Continue reading Tinsley v Milligan: HL 28 Jun 1993
The deceased was a prisoner known to be at risk of committing suicide. Whilst in police custody he hanged himself in his prison cell. The Commissioner accepted that he was in breach of his duty of care to the deceased, but not that that breach was caustive of the death by suicide. Held: Police and … Continue reading Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis v Reeves (Joint Administratix of The Estate of Martin Lynch, Deceased): HL 15 Jul 1999
A diesel tank was in a yard which drained into a river. It was surrounded by a bund to contain spillage, but that protection was over ridden by an extension pipe from the tank to a drum outside the bund. Someone opened a tap on that pipe so that diesel flowed into the drum until … Continue reading Empress Car Company (Abertillery) Ltd v National Rivers Authority: HL 22 Jan 1998
The prisoner challenged the decision to place him in segregation under Prison Rule 43. Under rule 43(1) the initial power to segregate was given to ‘the governor’. The case arose from the fact that the governor of one prison had purported to authorise the segregation of a prisoner on his arrival at another prison to … Continue reading Regina v Deputy Governor of Parkhurst Prison, Ex parte Hague, Weldon v Home Office: HL 24 Jul 1991
(Scotland) By the 2014 Act, the Scottish Parliament had provided that each child should have a named person to monitor that child’s needs, with information about him or her shared as necessary. The Institute objected that the imposed obligation to share information was outwith the powers of the Parliament. It extended the information to be … Continue reading The Christian Institute and Others v The Lord Advocate: SC 28 Jul 2016
The defendants, young boys, had set fire to paper and thrown the lit papers into a wheelie bin, expecting the fire to go out. In fact substantial damage was caused. The House was asked whether a conviction was proper under the section where the defendant had given no thought to a risk of damage, but … Continue reading Regina v G and R: HL 16 Oct 2003
The defendant appealed by case stated from his conviction for using a motor vehicle fitted with a siren. When stopped various items suggesting that driver might be providing an ambulance service were found. The siren was not used. Held: The test was: ‘is the vehicle concerned used (or primarily used) for conveying the sick, the … Continue reading Lord-Castle v Director of Public Prosecutions: QBD 23 Jan 2009
In 1995 the defendant was sentenced to twelve years for rapes committed in 1983. He complained that the consequences of the later sentence were adverse because of the 1991 Act. He would now serve three quarters of the sentence rather than two thirds. Held: Article 7.1 prohibits the imposition of a penalty which is heavier … Continue reading Uttley, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 30 Jul 2004
The defendant had been convicted and made subect to a confiscation order in 1996. A final order for enforcement was made in late 2002. The defendant said the delay in the enforcement proceedings was a breach of his right to a trial within a reasonable time. Held: The reasonable time guarantee afforded by Article 6.1 … Continue reading Lloyd v Bow Street Magistrates Court: Admn 8 Oct 2003
The defendant appealed his conviction for rape, saying that the complainant’s evidence had wrongfully been allowed to be given over a remote video link. Provisions to allow such means of giving evidence had been intended to be phased in only as training allowed. No notice had been given to apply to the court which had … Continue reading R, Regina v: CACD 4 Apr 2008
The defendant challenged the obligatory requirement that evidence given by a person under 17 in sex or violent offence cases must normally be given by video link. Held: The purpose of the section was to improve the quality of the evidence presented to a court. There was no absolute right for a defendant to be … Continue reading D (A Minor), Regina (on the Application of) v Camberwell Green Youth Court: HL 27 Jan 2005
There was no inherent power to allow a defendant to give evidence by live link, on the ground that Parliament had sought since 1988 to provide exclusively for the circumstances in which live link might be used in a criminal trial. Judges: Lord Justice Laws Eady The Honourable Mr Justice Eady Citations: [2004] 2 Cr … Continue reading Regina on the Application of S v Waltham Forest Youth Court, The Crown Prosecution Service, The Secretary of State for the Home Department: Admn 31 Mar 2004
The appellants argued that the court had misdirected itself in law when concluding that neither appellant had satisfied him that the amount that might be realised at the time he made the confiscation orders was less than the agreed amount of benefit, a sum of pounds 3,668,990. The appeal raises the issue as to the … Continue reading Mcintosh and Another v Regina: CACD 22 Jun 2011
The defendant had pleaded guilty to offences of obtaining property by deception, The judge discussed the issue of the obtaining of benefit saying: ‘The fact that he may not have personally received all or some of the money in relation to any of those offences is immaterial for the initial purpose of determining the total … Continue reading Regina v Rees: 19 Jul 1990
Reference to Parliamentary Papers behind Statute The inspector sought to tax the benefits in kind received by teachers at a private school in having their children educated at the school for free. Having agreed this was a taxable emolument, it was argued as to whether the taxable benefit was the cost to the employer, or … Continue reading Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart: HL 26 Nov 1992
Banker’s Liability for Negligent Reference The appellants were advertising agents. They were liable themselves for advertising space taken for a client, and had sought a financial reference from the defendant bankers to the client. The reference was negligent, but the bankers denied any assumption of a duty of care to a third party when purely … Continue reading Hedley Byrne and Co Ltd v Heller and Partners Ltd: HL 28 May 1963
The claimant had served an asset freezing order on the bank in respect of one of its customers. The bank paid out on a cheque inadvertently as to the order. The Commissioners claimed against the bank in negligence. The bank denied any duty of care. Held: The bank’s appeal succeeded. The bank owed a duty … Continue reading HM Customs and Excise v Barclays Bank Plc: HL 21 Jun 2006
Liability in Damages on Statute Breach to be Clear Damages were to be awarded against a Local Authority for breach of statutory duty in a care case only if the statute was clear that damages were capable of being awarded. in the ordinary case a breach of statutory duty does not, by itself, give rise … Continue reading X (Minors) v Bedfordshire County Council; M (A Minor) and Another v Newham London Borough Council; Etc: HL 29 Jun 1995
Standing to Claim under A1P1 ECHR The appellants had written employers’ liability insurance policies. They appealed against rejection of their challenge to the 2009 Act which provided that asymptomatic pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis should constitute actionable harm for the purposes of an action of damages for personal injury. Held: The insurers’ appeals failed. … Continue reading AXA General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others: SC 12 Oct 2011
In each case the defendant sought to resist European Extradition Warrants saying that an order would be a disporportionate interference in their human right to family life. The Court asked whether its approach as set out in Norris, had to be amended in the light of the case of ZH. Held: HH and PH’s appeals … Continue reading HH v Deputy Prosecutor of The Italian Republic, Genoa: SC 20 Jun 2012
The Authority appealed from refusal of judicial review of a circular issued by the respondent as to the supply of Plastic Baton Rounds and CS gas from central resources only. The authority suggested that the circular amounted to permission for the use of plastic baton rounds for the first time in England and Wales and … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex Parte Northumbria Police Authority: CA 18 Nov 1987
The defendant argued that as Governor and Chief Excecutive of Bayelsa State in Nigeria he had sovereign immunity. The Foreign Office had issued a certificate that the defendant was not a Head of States under the 1978 Act. The A-G of Bayelsa had certified that the defendant was a head of State but the A-G … Continue reading Alamieyeseigha, Regina (on the Application Of) v Crown Prosecution Service: Admn 25 Nov 2005
The second defendant, a farmer, employed the first defendant, inter alia, to drive his tractor. The tractor, when fitted up was necessarily dangerous, but was licensed to be driven on the roads. There was a fatal accident on the highway. The defendants appealed from convictions for causing death by dangerous driving. Held: The Court concluded … Continue reading Regina v Marchant and Another: CACD 21 Jul 2003
PI Damages not Reduced for Own Pension The plaintiff policeman was disabled by the negligence of the defendant and received a disablement pension. Part had been contributed by himself and part by his employer. Held: The plaintiff’s appeal succeeded. Damages for personal injury were not to be reduced by deducting the full net value of … Continue reading Parry v Cleaver: HL 5 Feb 1969
The best evidence rule does not generally exclude the admission of evidence of lesser quality. If such a rule exists, it applies only to documents in the possession of the partyAckner LJ said: ‘The old rule, that a party must produce the best evidence that the nature of the case will allow, and that any … Continue reading Kajala v Noble: CACD 1982
Balancing Rights of Prisoner and Society The appellant had been convicted of the murder of three police officers in 1966. His tariff of thirty years had now long expired. He complained that material put before the Parole Board reviewing has case had not been disclosed to him. Held: The appeal failed (by a majority). The … Continue reading Roberts v Parole Board: HL 7 Jul 2005
The appellants each challenged alterations to the scheme for compensation of the victims of miscarriages of justice. Held: Laws LJ emphasised the special nature of the promise or practice which was necessary to give rise to a substantive legitimate expectation, saying: ‘Authority shows that where a substantive expectation is to run the promise or practice … Continue reading Bhatt Murphy (a firm), Regina (on the application of) v The Independent Assessor: CA 9 Jul 2008
The claimants challenged the 2004 Order which prevented their return to their homes on the Chagos Islands. The islanders had been taken off the island to leave it for use as a US airbase. In 2004, the island was no longer needed, and payment had been made (ineffectively) to assist the dispossessed islanders, but an … Continue reading Bancoult, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 2): HL 22 Oct 2008
The appellant was detained under section 37 of the 1983 Act as a mental patient with a restriction under section 41. He sought his release. Held: The standard of proof in such applications remained the balance of probabilities, but that standard was flexible, and varied according to the seriousness of the allegation. The only misdirection … Continue reading AN, Regina (on the Application of) v Mental Health Review Tribunal (Northern Region) and others: CA 21 Dec 2005
The defendant resisted extradition to Brussels saying that the offence had been committed in part in England. He had absconded and been convicted. Application was made for his return to serve his sentence. The offences associated with organisation of illegal immigration, fell within the European framework list, but section 65(2)(a) was not satisfied. Held: ‘the … Continue reading Office of the King’s Prosecutor, Brussels v Cando Armas and others: HL 17 Nov 2005
The appellant had been convicted of driving with excess alcohol. After complaints by the injured victim’s family he was further prosecuted for dangerous driving. He now appealed his conviction, having pleaded guilty when the judge failed to find an abuse of process. He asserted that the rule in R v Erlington should have prevented his … Continue reading Phipps, Regina v: CACD 14 Jan 2005
The newspaper and other media companies appealed from an order restricting the reporting of parts of the evidence given in a trial for an offence under the 1989 Act. The objected that the order did not serve, as required, to protect any proceedings, and that it should not be a permanent ban. Held: The order … Continue reading Times Newspapers Ltd and others v Regina: CACD 30 Jul 2007
The Court was asked as to the powers of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division to re-open an appeal to correct an error which is said to have caused real injustice in that the error led to the quashing of a sentence lawfully imposed in the Crown Court. The court had quashed a conviction based … Continue reading Yasain, Regina v: CACD 16 Jul 2015
These appeals concern the statutory provisions governing the eligibility for compensation of persons convicted of a criminal offence where their conviction is subsequently quashed (or they are pardoned) because of the impact of fresh evidence. It was argued that the failure to make payment amounted to a denial of the right to the presumption of … Continue reading Hallam, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: SC 30 Jan 2019
The plaintiff had been convicted of several counts of receiving stolen goods and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. He had appealed to the Court of Appeal on the ground that he had been convicted on the basis of evidence in statement form given by witnesses from New Zealand. His appeal failed. Some time later his … Continue reading Bateman and Howse, Regina (on the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA 17 May 1994
The claimant had been imprisoned, but his conviction was later overturned. He had been a victim of a gross abuse of executive power. The British authorities had acted in breach of international law and had been guilty of ‘a blatant and extremely serious failure to adhere to the rule of law with regard to the … Continue reading Mullen, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 29 Apr 2004
The three claimants had each been convicted of murders and served time. Their convictions had been reversed eventually, and they now appealed against the refusal of compensation for imprisonment, saying that there had been a miscarriage of justice. Held: The appeal of Adams was denied, but those of MacDermott and McCartney allowed (by majority). The … Continue reading Adams, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: SC 11 May 2011
Ban on Prisoners talking to Journalists unlawful The two prisoners, serving life sentences for murder, had had their appeals rejected. They continued to protest innocence, and sought to bring their campaigns to public attention through the press, having oral interviews with journalists without undertakings from the journalists not to publish any element of the interview. … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for The Home Department Ex Parte Simms: HL 8 Jul 1999
