It had been submitted to the youth court that a boy of 15, with the intellectual capacity of an 8 year old, ought not to face trial. The district judge decided that the trial should proceed and the defendant sought judicial review.
Held: The district judge correctly directed himself. In any event he had a continuing jurisdiction to stay the proceedings if, at any stage during the trial, he concluded that the defendant was not able to participate effectively. It was a better course to allow the trial to proceed than to stay the proceedings at the outset.
Scott Baker set out the minimum requirements for a fair trial: ‘The judge had earlier correctly directed himself that the minimum requirements for a fair trial for the claimant were:
(1) he had to understand what he is said to have done wrong
(2) the court had to be satisfied that the claimant when he had done wrong by act or omission had the means of knowing that was wrong
(3) he had to understand what, if any, defences were available to him
(4) he had to have a reasonable opportunity to make relevant representations if he wished
(5) he had to have the opportunity to consider what representation he wished to make once he understood the issues involved. He had therefore to be able to give proper instructions and to participate by way of providing answers to questions and suggesting questions to his lawyers in the circumstances of the trial as they arose.’
Judges:
Scott Baker LJ and Rafferty J
Citations:
[2005] EWHC 2583 (Admin), [2006] 1 WLR 1219, [2006] 1 Cr App R 25
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Crown Prosecution Service v P; Director of Public Prosecutions v P Admn 27-Apr-2007
The prosecutor appealed a grant of a stay of a prosecution of the 13 year old defendant as an abuse of process. Reports had indicated that he was unfit to plead. The prosecution contended that, if the court thought P ought not to face trial by . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice, Human Rights
Updated: 07 May 2022; Ref: scu.235341