The court considered an appeal where the defendant had entered a plea of guilty but had felt himself under undue pressure from the judge.
Held: The court urged caution in the practice of counsel seeing the judge in his chambers, though accepted that there must be freedom of access between counsel and the judge when there are matters calling for communications or discussions of such a nature that counsel cannot in the interests of his client mention them in open court.
Lord Parker CJ said: ‘once [the defendant] felt that this was an intimation emanating from the judge, it is really idle in the opinion of this court to think that he really had a free choice in the matter.’ An accused, having considered counsel’s advice, must have complete freedom of choice whether to plead guilty or not guilty.
Judges:
Lord Parker CJ
Citations:
[1970] 2 QB 321, [1970] 2 All ER 281, [1970] 54 Cr App R 352
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Mullen, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 29-Apr-2004
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 . .
Applied – Regina v Smith, Beaney CACD 18-Mar-1999
The defendants appealed their convictions, saying that the guilty pleas had been obtained by pressure. On the day of the trial, there had been conversations between their representatives, in the course of which inconsistent admissions were made. . .
Cited – Regina v Smith CACD 1990
In the course of a trial, both counsel had seen the judge in chambers, as a result of which defence counsel told his client that the judge had indicated that a suspended sentence would be the outcome if there was a change of plea to guilty. The . .
Cited – Regina v Harper-Taylor and Bakker CA 19-Feb-1988
There had been a prolonged discussion, ranging over a wide field in the judge’s room: ‘Since we regard the discussion in the judge’s room as the source of all the subsequent entanglements, some general observations on the practice of meeting the . .
Cited – Regina v Mason CACD 18-Nov-2004
The defendant had entered a plea of guilty to a charge of manslaughter, but now sought to vacate that plea. There had been a fight after a wedding reception. The defendant was said to have joined in a multi-handed attack on the victim. The defendant . .
Updated – 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 – Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 2003) (Rogan) CANI 2001
The court discussed the need to take notes of meetings in chambers between the judge and counsel. The court set out four principles to be applied: ‘1. There should be freedom of access for counsel to judges, but that does not mean freedom to discuss . .
Cited – Rooney and Others, Re Attorney General’s Reference (Number 1 of 2005) CANI 11-Nov-2005
The defendants had been convicted or armed robbery. The Attorney General appealed against the sentences saying they were too lenient. Rooney argued that his plea of guilty had been after an indication by the judge and the reference was misguided. . .
Cited – Regina v Mitchell CACD 25-Apr-1996
The defendant appealed against his sentence for three counts of indecent assault on children. The pre-sentence report had recommended him for teatment on a residential programme but recocgnised that he was a threat to young girls. He complained that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.196535