Vulnerable witnesses allowed to give evidence pre-trial – BBC News
‘Vulnerable witnesses can give evidence before a trial starts from Monday as part of a pilot scheme in three Crown Courts in England.’
BBC News, 28th April 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: evidence
JA (Afghanistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily
‘Although a tribunal adjudicating on an asylum appeal did not have power, in the absence of express statutory provision, to exclude relevant evidence in the form of records of the asylum applicant’s interviews, it was required by the common law principle of fairness to consider with care how much weight should be attached to such evidence, having regard to the circumstances in which it came into existence, and the extent to which reliance could properly be placed on the applicant’s answers.’
WLR Daily, 9th April 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Nigel Evans verdict casts doubt over CPS decisions in sexual assault cases – The Guardian
‘Former Commons deputy speaker’s acquittal suggests CPS may be too willing to bring charges when evidence is not very strong’
The Guardian, 10th April 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Judges criticise police over ‘bizarre’ penis ID request – Daily Telegraph
‘Sex attacker Kelvyn Lester, 47, declined to take medication for erectile dysfunction so officers could photograph his penis for an identification procedure.’
Daily Telegraph, 7th April 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Regina v Achogbuo – WLR Daily
‘An application for permission to appeal against a conviction on grounds of previous incompetent representation by solicitors or counsel should not be made without taking proper steps to inquire whether there was a cogent objective basis for the proposed ground of appeal. It was impermissible to rely alone on the word of the defendant.’
WLR Daily, 19th March 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Police bid to obtain journalistic material refused – Supreme Court – UK Human Rights Blog
‘R (on the application of British Sky Broadcasting Limited) (Respondent) v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Appellant) [2014] UKSC 17. This was an appeal from a ruling by the Administrative Court that it was procedurally unfair, and therefore unlawful, for BSkyB to have had a disclosure order made against it without full access to the evidence on which the police’s case was based and the opportunity to comment on or challenge that evidence.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 13th March 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Regina (British Sky Broadcasting Ltd) v Central Criminal Court (B and another intervening) – WLR Daily
‘On the hearing of an application by a police officer for a production order under section 9 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, seeking access to journalistic material held by a news organisation for the purposes of an investigation into an alleged offence, the court could not have regard to evidence adduced by the police in support of the application which had not been disclosed to the news organisation.’
WLR Daily, 12th March 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
From “Shaken Baby Syndrome” to “Non-Accidental Head Injury” – The Continuing Research and the Law – Family Law Week
‘David Bedingfield of 4 Paper Buildings charts the recent history of scientific research into serious non-accidental head injuries suffered by babies and the response of the family and criminal courts in England and Wales.’
Family Law week, 11th March 2014
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Regina (Ali) v Secretary of State for Justice; Regina (Dennis) v Same; Regina (Tunbridge) v Same – WLR Daily
‘In determining whether an individual, whose conviction had been quashed on the basis of new evidence, qualified for compensation under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 on the ground of miscarriage of justice, the Secretary of State for Justice was required to make a decision by applying the statutory test in accordance with Supreme Court guidance to the facts of the particular case. Those facts could include events which postdated the quashing of the conviction in the event that further facts of relevance to the application of the statutory test arose. The Secretary of State might come to his own view, having regard to the terms of the judgment by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) quashing the conviction, and provided the decision did not conflict with that judgment. The decision was then amenable to judicial review on conventional grounds of challenge, not merely because the court would have reached a different view. Save in exceptional circumstances, it should not be necessary for the court to engage in a detailed review of the facts.’
WLR Daily, 27th February 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Beeres v. The CPS – Criminal Law and Justice Weekly
‘Anita Beeres was convicted of assault for beating her partner John Leeson with a baseball bat during an argument at her home. Mr Leeson himself did not complain nor did he give evidence. (History does not relate how then Ms Beeres was arrested.) The only evidence against Ms Beeres was her confession, first at the time of her arrest and then again when interviewed at the police station.’
Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 28th February 2014
Source: www.criminallawandjustice.co.uk
New evidence delays coroner’s ruling on death of soldier who said she was raped – The Guardian
‘A coroner’s ruling into the death of a soldier who said she had been raped and bullied has been unexpectedly delayed after lawyers for the military revealed they had uncovered new documents, including a reference to a diary and mobile phones the woman’s family say were never passed to them.’
The Guardian, 24th February 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Fact or Friction – Horner v Norman – Zenith Chambers
‘It can be difficult at the best of times to establish liability in claims involving pedestrians. Expert evidence should, hopefully, make the task easier, but this case is a useful reminder that even seemingly robust expert evidence may not be enough for a party to succeed.’
Zenith Chambers, 5th February 2014
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
The Doctor’s Note – Zenith Chambers
‘We are all sadly familiar with the last-minute application for an adjournment backed
by a doctor’s note, on the grounds that the defendant, claimant or important witness
is unfit to attend Court. Almost inevitably, the note in question is unsatisfactory or
insufficient. It frequently takes the jejune form of “Mrs X is suffering from an anxiety
state and is unfit to attend Court”, and that is all.’
Zenith Chambers, 5th February 2014
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
Regina (Khan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily
Regina (Khan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 88; [2014] WLR (D) 60
‘The word “matter” in section 96(1)(b) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 was to be interpreted broadly to include both evidence and issues.’
WLR Daily, 11th February 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Open Access version of the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review – IALS
‘Building on successful work with the School of Advanced Study’s Open Journals System, a project is in progress at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) to develop an Open Access version of the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review.
Established in 2004, the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review brings articles, legal developments and case reports to academics, practitioners and the industry in relation to digital evidence and electronic signatures from across the world.
This Open Access version of Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review is being developed by Stephen Mason (founder, publisher and general editor) with the Institute on the SAS Open Journals System – further raising the visibility and accessibility of the journal and its contents.
Our exciting project, through SAS OJS, will safeguard free online access to all the back issues for legal researchers, support the publication of publicly available future issues and help stimulate new areas of legal discussion and scholarship.
The full back run of published volumes is now available on the service and we are beginning work on Volume 11 : 2014 as a “Born Digital” Open Access publication.’
The Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review
IALS, 6th February 2014
Source: www.ials.sas.uk
Woman falls to death days after man accused of raping her is cleared – Daily Telegraph
‘The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to investigate the death of a woman who twice gave evidence in the trial of a man accused of raping her.’
Daily Telegraph, 3rd February 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Regina v Lewis (Leroy) – WLR Daily
Regina v Lewis (Leroy): [2013] EWCA Crim 2596; [2014] WLR (D) 38
‘Once an indictment had been properly preferred and signed it remained the indictment in the case, so that the Crown Court had jurisdiction to try a case where no evidence had been offered on the single indictable offence and only summary offences were left to be tried.’
WLR Daily, 5th December 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Regina v Powell (Carl) – WLR Daily
Regina v Powell (Carl) [2014] WLR (D) 34
‘The statutory regimes concerning joinder of counts in an indictment and cross-admissibility of evidence were separate and the settled criteria concerning joinder had not been superseded in consequence of the changes in relation to evidence of bad character made by the Criminal Justice Act 2003.’
WLR Daily, 29th January 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Company barred from giving evidence in court due to “substantial delay” in providing witness statements – OUT-LAW.com
‘Civil court litigants must comply with court orders or “face the consequences”, an expert has said, after the High Court barred a company from giving evidence about a particular issue at trial after it failed to exchange witness statements within a reasonable time.’
OUT-LAW.com, 28th January 2014
Source: www.out-law.com
