In the light of the Human Rights Act, it would now be almost inevitable that a finding that the defendant had not had a fair trial, would lead to a finding that his conviction could not be regarded as safe. Where a defendant had pleaded guilty, but the circumstances suggested some abuse of process, it may be proper to allow an appeal to stand. The question of whether the rights of the defendant.
Lord Woolf CJ observed: ‘However, in the case of Francom [2001] 1 Cr.App.R. 17, this Court indicated, in a judgment which I gave on behalf of the Court, that we would expect . . that the approach of this Court applying the test of lack of safety would produce the same result as the approach of the ECtHR applying the test of lack of fairness. We would suggest that, even if there was previously a difference of approach, that since the 1998 Act came into force, the circumstances in which there will be room for a different result before this Court and before the ECtHR because of unfairness based on the respective tests we employ will be rare indeed. Applying the broader approach . . we consider that if a defendant has been denied a fair trial it will almost be inevitable that the conviction will be regarded as unsafe . . ‘
Judges:
Lord Woolf CJ, Steel, Butterfield JJ
Citations:
Times 21-Nov-2000, [2000] EWCA Crim 111, [2001] 1 Cr App R 33, [2001] 3 All ER 463, [2001] Crim LR 124, [2001] 1 Cr App Rep 33
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Francom; Regina v Latif (Clare); Regina v Latif (Melna); Regina v Bevis; Regina v Harker CACD 24-Oct-2000
The judge failed to give a direction in accordance with recommendations from the Judicial Studies Board and counsel in the case as to the need for the jury not to draw inferences from the defendants’ failure to mention certain facts on interview. . .
Cited by:
Cited – Brown, Regina v CACD 29-Jul-2015
The claimant, a patient hld at Rampton Hospital faced charges of attempted murder of two nurses. His lwayers had asked for the right to see their client in private, but eth Hospital objected, insisting on the presence of two nurses at all times. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Human Rights
Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.88691