The Practical Lawyer

The high-profile collapse of a number of rape cases following disclosure failings by the police has thrown rape prosecutions into the spotlight. Against this background, the author discusses the reasons behind disclosure failings in criminal proceedings.

Practitioners should note that the Criminal Legal Aid (Amendment) Regulations 2017 are in force from this month (21 February 2018). Under these regulations, various amendments are made to criminal legal aid legislation to expand the scope of criminal legal aid to include:

There was strong circumstantial evidence and A’s robbery conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal. A appealed his robbery conviction for which he was sentenced to a term of five years’ imprisonment. He denied being involved in the robbery.

A, who ran an Indian restaurant, was convicted of manslaughter when a customer died after eating a meal containing substantial amounts of peanuts. The victim, knowing he had an allergy to peanuts, had been specifically told by a waiter that it contained no nuts.

In this useful article, the author examines issues relating to good character following the Court of Appeal ruling in R v Green [2017]. In that case, the judge drew attention to the complainant’s good character in his summing up, telling the jury that there was a level playing field as far as character was concerned. The author says this diminished the effect of D’s good character.

The author provides a useful summary of general defences available to defendants in light of recent case law. For instance, self-defence can potentially be a defence to allegations of both dangerous and careless driving, recognising that there may be a need for responsive force in particular circumstances.