A man was accused of a series of mortgage frauds. The defendants each gave evidence to the court. He made a complaint of perjury against each of them. The current defendants sought judicial review of a refusal to discharge the summonses.
Held: ‘there is no authority directly upon the question whether the issue and maintenance of summonses charging perjury pending the trial of a criminal prosecution in which those receiving the summonses may be called to give evidence may constitute an abuse of the process of the court.’ ‘few things could be more calculated to distort the process of Mr. Hedworth’s trial than what has occurred here. ‘ and ‘These witnesses will go to the Crown Court with the threat of the summonses over their heads. There is a plain danger of pressure, at least subjectively felt, such that evidence at the trial may not be given freely. There is a risk that the jury may be misled by attaching false importance to the outstanding perjury proceedings. The evidence would be distorted. It would appear that the witnesses would have to be advised of their privilege against self-incrimination. What might the jury make of that? The magistrates themselves appreciated that it would be wholly inappropriate for such perjury proceedings as these to go forward while the prosecution of Mr. Hedworth was outstanding. That was plainly right. ‘
Judges:
Laws J
Citations:
[1996] EWHC Admin 75
Statutes:
Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 1
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Bros 1902
A magistrate should consider, before issuing a summons, whether it appears to be vexatious. . .
Cited – Regina v West London Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Klahn QBD 1979
The issue of a summons by a magistrate is a judicial act: ‘The duty of a magistrate in considering an application for the issue of a summons is to exercise a judicial discretion in deciding whether or not to issue a summons. It would appear that he . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Magistrates
Updated: 10 July 2022; Ref: scu.136623
