JD Wetherspoon plc v Harris and others – WLR Daily

Posted May 3rd, 2013 in admissibility, evidence, law reports, summary judgments, witnesses by tracey

JD Wetherspoon plc v Harris and others: [2013] EWHC 1088 (Ch);   [2013] WLR (D)  159

“It was not appropriate to apply for summary judgment after the exchange of witness statements in proceedings alleging fraud and dishonesty where the applications were based on a particular interpretation of facts and on the inferences to be drawn from established facts. Paragraphs in a witness statement containing a recitation of facts based on documents, commentary on those documents, argument, submissions and expressions of opinion, made by a witness who had had no prior involvement with the subject matter of the proceedings were abusive and should be struck out.”

WLR Daily, 1st May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Covert recordings may be admissible in Employment Tribunals – Technology Law Update

Posted March 19th, 2013 in admissibility, employment tribunals, evidence, news, video recordings by tracey

“As technology becomes more sophisticated, so do the challenges faced by employers.  A seemingly common query relates to the legality of covert recordings made by employees of face to face meetings with managers or colleagues on smart phones or tablets.”

Full story

Technology Law Update, 15th March 2013

Source: www.technology-law-blog.co.uk

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Regina v Plunkett (Daniel): Regina v Plunkett (James) – WLR Daily

Posted March 15th, 2013 in admissibility, appeals, evidence, investigatory powers, law reports by tracey

Regina v Plunkett (Daniel): Regina v Plunkett (James): [2013] EWCA Crim 261;   [2013] WLR (D)  98

“Covert recordings of conversations between defendants which had taken place whilst they were in the rear of a police van were not to be categorised as intrusive surveillance, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, because a police van, used solely for police purposes, was not a private vehicle.”

WLR Daily, 13th March 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Without prejudice communications – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted February 27th, 2013 in admissibility, contracts, evidence, interpretation, news, without prejudice communications by sally

“When a litigator enters into settlement discussions, the general rule is that the content of those communications are protected by the Without Prejudice Rule and cannot be relied upon as evidence in court if the case doesn’t settle. This rule, however, does not constitute a blanket ban. In this note James Barnard reminds us of the Without Prejudice Rule framework, its recognised exceptions and how the Supreme Court case of Oceanbulk Shipping & Trading SA v TMT Asia Ltd [2010] UKSA 44 created another wide-ranging exception.”

Full story (PDF)

11 Stone Buildings, February 2013

Source: www.11sb.com

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Regina v Dizaei – WLR Daily

Posted February 21st, 2013 in admissibility, bad character, crime, evidence, law reports, witnesses by sally

Regina v Dizaei [2013] EWCA Crim 88; [2013] WLR (D) 64

“When a court was assessing the probative value of the evidence of bad character of a witness in criminal proceedings, in accordance with the provisions of section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, among the factors relevant to the admissibility judgment, the court should consider whether the admission of such evidence might make it difficult for the jury to understand the remainder of the evidence, and whether its understanding of the case as a whole might be diminished. If the conclusion was that the evidence was not of substantial probative value in establishing propensity or lack of creditworthiness of the witness, or that the evidence was not of substantial importance in the context of the case as a whole, or both, the preconditions to admissibility would not established.”

WLR Daily, 14th February 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Regina v Faraz – WLR Daily

Posted January 7th, 2013 in admissibility, appeals, evidence, incitement, law reports, terrorism by sally

Regina v Faraz [2012] EWCA Crim 2820; [2013] WLR (D) 1

“Where a defendant was charged with disseminating terrorist publications via a bookshop and associated website which he managed, evidence that named terrorist offenders had possessed similar material was only admissible, if at all, for the very limited purpose of demonstrating that among the readership of the bookshop and website’s publications were people who were prepared to commit terrorist acts. But if the evidence was admitted for that purpose, it was relevant only to the question whether such people were likely to regard the contents of the publication as encouragement to commit terrorist acts. It was not admissible in proof of the fact that people had been so encouraged. It was essential that the judge direct the jury as to the limitations and pitfalls of such evidence.”

WLR Daily, 21st December 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Regina v Clift; Regina v Harrison: [2012] EWCA Crim 2750; [2012] WLR (D) 387 – WLR Daily

Posted December 21st, 2012 in admissibility, evidence, grievous bodily harm, law reports, murder by tracey

Regina v Clift; Regina v Harrison: [2012] EWCA Crim 2750;   [2012] WLR (D)  387

“Where a defendant had been convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and the victim subsequently died as a result of that harm, the defendant could not automatically be convicted of the victim’s murder. However, pursuant to section 74(3) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the earlier conviction would be admissible of the fact that the defendant had committed the offence, and if the conviction was proved the burden would then shift to the defendant to prove on the balance of probabilities that he was not guilty of murder.”

WLR Daily, 18th December 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Supreme court urged to rule on Sikh leader’s claim he is a ‘holy saint’ – The Guardian

Posted November 12th, 2012 in admissibility, news, religious discrimination, Sikhism, succession, Supreme Court by sally

“The supreme court is considering whether it should rule on the spiritual status of a Sikh leader and examine his claim to be a ‘holy saint’.”

Full story

The Guardian, 11th November 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

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A Salutary Lesson on Bad Character – The Devil Is In The Detail – Zenith Chambers

Posted September 25th, 2012 in admissibility, bad character, drug offences, evidence, news by sally

“In a recent Crown Court trial the Prosecution made a Bad Character application alleging that the factual basis of a previous conviction was so similar to the alleged facts of the instant case, that the previous conviction should be admitted. This was propensity with a heavy dollop of similar fact.”

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 17th September 2012

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

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Neilly v The Queen – WLR Daily

Posted May 14th, 2012 in admissibility, appeals, evidence, identification, judges, law reports, trials, witnesses by sally

Neilly v The Queen [2012] UKPC 12; [2012] WLR (D) 144

“When a defendant in a criminal trial had not been put on an identification parade, the decision as to whether to allow a dock identification was a matter for the trial judge in the light of all the relevant circumstances. However where a dock identification was admitted in evidence the trial judge was required to give the jury careful directions as to the dangers of relying on that evidence, and to warn the jury of the disadvantages to the defendant of having been denied the opportunity of participating in an identification parade.”

WLR Daily, 10th May 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Brighton Declaration on ECHR reform adopted – Ministry of Justice

Posted April 23rd, 2012 in admissibility, human rights, judiciary, news by sally

“Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has announced that the UK has negotiated a landmark agreement on reform of the European Court of Human Rights.”

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Ministry of Justice, 20th April 2012

Source: www.justice.gov.uk

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The Brighton Declaration and the “meddling court” – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 23rd, 2012 in admissibility, courts, human rights, judiciary, jurisdiction, news by sally

“The Brighton Declaration is the latest Declaration (see previously the Interlaken and Izmir Declarations) on the future (and reform) of the European Court of Human Rights made on behalf of the 47 member States to the Council of Europe, the parent organisation for the ECHR. Brighton was the venue, the United Kingdom having taken up the six month Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe late last year.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 22nd April 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

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Ken Clarke: ECHR reforms ‘will cut UK’s frustration’ – BBC News

Posted April 23rd, 2012 in admissibility, appeals, courts, deportation, human rights, judiciary, jurisdiction, news by sally

“Ken Clarke has said changes to the European Court of Human Rights will reduce ‘frustration’ over cases such as the proposed deportation of Abu Qatada.”

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BBC News, 22nd April 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

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Yes, criticise individual cases but Strasbourg court should develop law – The Guardian

Posted April 23rd, 2012 in admissibility, human rights, judiciary, jurisdiction, news by sally

“Report shows most criticism of judgments from European court of human rights is fact-specific.”

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The Guardian, 20th April 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

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Regina v Newell – WLR Daily

Posted April 3rd, 2012 in admissibility, appeals, evidence, law reports by sally

Regina v Newell [2012] EWCA Crim 650; [2012] WLR (D) 105

“A statement made on a plea and case management hearing form by the defendant’s counsel, although admissible in principle as a matter of law, should not, in the exercise of the court’s discretion under section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (‘PACE’), be admitted in evidence against the defendant at trial, provided that the case had been conducted in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the Criminal Procedure Rules 2011.”

WLR Daily, 30th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Regina v Chinn – WLR Daily

Posted March 19th, 2012 in admissibility, hearsay evidence, law reports, witnesses by sally

Regina v Chinn [2012] EWCA 501; [2012] WLR (D) 82

“Where a witness’s oral evidence in chief indicated that he had earlier made a witness statement and to the best of his belief he had made the statement concerned and that the statement stated the truth, and the statement identified or described a person, object or place connected with an alleged offence or other relevant event, those parts of the witness statement would be admissible under section 120(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. However, other parts of the witness statement, which went beyond identification or description of the person object or place, would not be admissible under section 120(4) and (5).”

WLR Daily, 15th March 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

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Who should have the final word on human rights? – Dr Ed Bates – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 6th, 2012 in admissibility, constitutional reform, courts, human rights, news by sally

“Much of the criticism directed toward the European Court of Human Rights over the last year or so, in this country at least, has been that it is too ready to overrule decisions made by the competent United Kingdom national authorities. It is said that British courts have already addressed the relevant human rights arguments under the Human Rights Act, so it is quite wrong that Strasbourg should now ‘overrule’ them.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 6th March 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

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Times contempt challenge thrown out in Strasbourg – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 8th, 2012 in admissibility, confidentiality, contempt of court, freedom of expression, human rights, media, news by sally

“The European Court of Human Rights has rejected as ‘inadmissible’ Times Newspaper’s challenge to its 2009 conviction for contempt of court. The decision, which was made by six judges, is a good example of an early stage ‘strike-out’ by the Court which is nonetheless a substantial, reasoned decision (see our posts on the ‘UK loses 3 out of 4 cases at the court’ controversy).”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 8th February 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

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Is the European Court of Human Rights obsessively interventionist? – Andrew Tickell – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted January 23rd, 2012 in admissibility, human rights, jurisdiction, news by sally

“Marie-Bénédicte Dembour calls them ‘forgotten cases’. As Adam Wagner demonstrated in a blog post of last week, Eurosceptic newspapers have a particular interest in overlooking the European Court of Human Right’s decisions of inadmissibility, seeking to buttress claims that the Court is wildly interventionist, imposing alien ‘European’ logics on Britain with gleeful abandon.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog,

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

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Tido v The Queen – WLR Daily

Posted June 20th, 2011 in admissibility, death penalty, evidence, identification, law reports, murder by sally

Tido v The Queen [2011] UKPC 16; [2011] WLR (D) 199

“A dock identification of a defendant was not inadmissible evidence per se. Nor was the admission of such evidence to be regarded as permissible in only the most exceptional circumstances.”

WLR Daily, 15th June 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

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