The hearing was a third appeal upon a reference by the Commission on the defendant’s conviction for murder.
Held: Auld LJ said that the court’s jurisdiction and a duty on a reference, as in an ordinary appeal, is to consider the safety of the conviction. Section 9(2) of the 1995 Act provides that a conviction reference shall be treated ‘for all purposes’ as an appeal under section 1 of the 1968 Act. Section 13(1) of the 1995 Act empowers the Commission to make a reference if it considers that there is a real possibility that the court would not uphold a conviction in the event of a reference because of a new argument or evidence. Section 13(2) empowers it ‘in exceptional circumstances’ to make such a reference even where there is no new argument or evidence and, by necessary implication, acknowledges or extends the power of the court in exceptional circumstances to depart from its previous decision where there is no new argument or evidence.
Citations:
[2002] EWCA Crim 941
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Pinfold CACD 1988
Once a person convicted of an offence on indictment appeals against that conviction and that appeal has been determined on its merits, the court has no jurisdiction to re-open it on fresh evidence coming to light.
Lord Lane CJ considered the . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Stock CACD 8-Aug-2008
The defendant sought to appeal his conviction in 1970 for robbery. He had refused to attend an identity parade but was then confronted with the main witness. Witnesses had also been shown photographs from which they were said to have selected the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 14 November 2022; Ref: scu.171190