At a trial for controlling or coercive behaviour, should the jury have been given a Brown direction to the effect that they must only convict if they were all agreed on at least one of the instances of such conduct pleaded in the Particulars of Offence?

ADDED Wednesday 5th January 2022

Is kidnapping a continuing offence or is it complete as soon as the victim has been taken against their will? Should those responsible for the subsequent movement and detention of the victim be charged with false imprisonment or with another kidnapping?

ADDED Tuesday 4th January 2022

Where police officers had restrained an individual, in order to prevent him from doing himself harm (but with no initial intention to arrest him), were they exercising their ‘functions’ for the purposes of the offence of assaulting an emergency worker?

ADDED Thursday 30th December 2021

The case was concerned with the question whether a magistrates’ court had power to send a defendant charged with an indictable only offence to the Crown Court for trial where that defendant was absent from the hearing but was represented by counsel.

ADDED Wednesday 29th December 2021

Can a voluntary act by the victim displace the responsibility of the perpetrator, so that the deceased is treated as having caused his own death? And can a voluntary act on the part of the victim be rendered involuntary by reason of a deceit practised by the perpetrator?

ADDED Tuesday 28th December 2021

The case was concerned with freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, insofar as those rights impact on the question whether protestors intentionally blocking a highway have a ‘lawful excuse’ for the purposes of s.137 of the Highways Act 1980.

ADDED Thursday 23rd December 2021

Is a 'Conclusive Grounds Decision' that a person is a victim of modern slavery (being a decision made for administrative purposes, based on written materials and according to the balance of probabilities) admissible in evidence in a criminal trial?

ADDED Wednesday 22nd December 2021

The case concerned (1) the approach in the Crown Court to the award of costs out of central funds to a private prosecutor, and (2) the jurisdictional position where that court acts without jurisdiction rather than in a mistaken exercise of jurisdiction.

ADDED Friday 17th December 2021

The case concerned whether the Crown Court had erred in law when discharging a Reporting Restriction Order, which prohibited the reporting of the address of a mother charged with the murder of her new-born baby and disposal of the body in a public park.

ADDED Thursday 16th December 2021

The case concerned the use of so-called Norwich Pharmacal orders obtained in the civil courts in aid of private prosecutions; and whether the wording of a settlement agreement in civil proceedings acted as a bar to subsequent criminal proceedings.

ADDED Friday 10th December 2021

Was there any legal requirement upon a person on whom the police wished to serve a Fixed Penalty Notice under the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020 to supply his name and address to the police officer in question?

ADDED Wednesday 8th December 2021

Should a Lucas direction be given, or replicated in similar terms, in relation to established lies told by a prosecution witness, where the defendant’s case is that it was that prosecution witness who was the actual perpetrator of the crime in question?

ADDED Monday 6th December 2021

A newspaper sought to appeal from a trial judge's refusal either to revoke a reporting restriction order or, in the alternative, to make a so-called ‘excepting direction’ that it was in the public interest for that restriction to be removed or relaxed.

ADDED Wednesday 1st December 2021

Having allowed the prosecutor’s appeal against the amount of the confiscation order made in the Crown Court, the Court of Appeal had then directed that a rehearing of the merits of the confiscation application should take place before the CACD itself.

ADDED Tuesday 30th November 2021

The case was concerned with the scope of section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the prohibition on the carrying on of any ‘regulated activity’ by anyone other than an authorised or exempt person) and its associated provisions.

ADDED Friday 26th November 2021

The case concerned the scope and operation of the open justice principle in relation to applications for Account Freezing Orders under POCA and the Magistrates’ Courts (Freezing and Forfeiture of Money in Bank and Building Society Accounts) Rules 2017

ADDED Thursday 25th November 2021

A company claimed from its directors the secret profits generated by their criminal scheme in breach of fiduciary duty. And the CPS claimed that a confiscation order made against the directors took precedence in being enforced against those assets.

ADDED Monday 22nd November 2021

Where a confiscation order was made against company directors, could the CPS enforce that order against the identified proceeds of the fraud in priority to the proprietary claim of the company whose directors were the chief engineers of the fraud?

ADDED Friday 19th November 2021

Did a corporate defendant have a fair trial where the individuals, who were said to be its DMWs and whose culpability was said to be attributable to the company under the 'identification' or 'attribution' principle, had been absent from the trial?

ADDED Thursday 18th November 2021

The CACD conducted a comprehensive review of the authorities both before and after R v Waya (Terry) [2013] 1 AC 294 and gave practical guidance on how a judge dealing with confiscation proceedings should approach the whole question of proportionality.

ADDED Friday 12th November 2021

The Respondent was said to have laundered criminal monies through companies purchasing residential and commercial properties. The NCA applied for an Unexplained Wealth Order and the court reviewed the regime and whether the hearing should be in private.

ADDED Thursday 11th November 2021

One of the most notorious murder cases of recent times prompted the court to consider the scope of the prosecution’s disclosure obligations post-conviction and also the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in correcting miscarriages of justice.

ADDED Tuesday 9th November 2021

A specially constituted five-judge court considered the test of ‘dishonesty’ in English criminal law. The court also reviewed the doctrine of precedent, describing it as the very foundation stone of the administration of justice and the rule of law.

ADDED Monday 8th November 2021

The case concerned systemic corruption across multiple jurisdictions by one of the largest global corporations in the aerospace industry. The court reviewed the framework for Deferred Prosecution Agreements and sanctioned a DPA for nearly €1 billion.

ADDED Friday 5th November 2021

The Supreme Court considered whether there is any principle of the common law which prevents HM Government providing to the authorities of another jurisdiction information which might lead to the imposition of the death penalty in that jurisdiction.

ADDED Wednesday 3rd November 2021

This case, arising from a gang war in Manchester, prompted the CACD to consider the legal basis for the admissibility of E-Fit pictures as identification evidence. Under CJA 2003, they were no longer to be treated as in a class of their own, akin to a camera.

ADDED Thursday 28th October 2021

The case concerned the requirement on registered terrorist offenders to notify the police of relevant information concerning motor vehicles of which the person is the registered keeper, or which the person has a right to use on the notification date.

ADDED Tuesday 26th October 2021

The case concerned whether the CACD had jurisdiction to hear an appeal against the variation of a restraining order and, if so, whether the Crown Court had been right to extend the original 10-year order (which had not been breached) for 10 more years.

ADDED Friday 15th October 2021

The case concerned whether the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act 1879 can be deployed in aid of overseas proceedings and whether it extends to business documentation held by a bank other than transactional records (including regulatory compliance documents).

ADDED Wednesday 13th October 2021

The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) examined a number of Sentencing Council Guidelines, dealing variously with young offenders; offenders with mental disorders, developmental disorders or neurological impairments; and offences of domestic violence.

ADDED Monday 11th October 2021

The case concerned the capital contribution claimed by the LAA under the VHCC regime. The defendant was acquitted by the jury of the main tax conspiracy but convicted on a subsidiary count relating to misrepresentations during HMRC's civil inquiry.

ADDED Friday 8th October 2021

When the victim of a vicious assault died of his injuries more than 4 years later and the assailant found himself on a murder charge, he applied for a lengthy extension of time to appeal against his earlier plea of guilty to GBH for the same incident.

ADDED Wednesday 6th October 2021

Five individuals who had each been arrested in the UK under EAWs, applied for habeas corpus on the ground that, from the end of the Brexit transition period, there was no proper basis in international law for their surrender to the requesting states.

ADDED Monday 4th October 2021

The case related to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The wording of the SHPO had been agreed between the parties and the Judge did not, when sentencing, set out his reasons for making it. Following a change of representation, the defendant appealed. ADDED Friday 1st October 2021

The case was concerned with the cash seizure provisions within POCA 2002. Owing to delays caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, HMRC had been unable to obtain a court listing of their application for further detention before the previous order lapsed.

ADDED Thursday 30th September 2021

The case concerned a highly unusual situation in which the official transcript provided for the purposes of a criminal appeal was inaccurate and incomplete and the initial hearing in the Court of Appeal proceeded on an entirely erroneous factual basis.

ADDED Friday 24th September 2021

The court analysed the differences between offences of failing to comply with a planning contravention notice and making false or misleading statements in response to a notice. It also held that the power to require information extended to documents.

ADDED Wednesday 22nd September 2021

The case related to a charge of attempting to commit the offence of international child abduction. It prompted the Court of Appeal to review the authorities on what is meant by an act ‘more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence’.

ADDED Monday 20th September 2021

The court examined the law on conversion and limitation of actions as it applies to Police (Property) Act 1897 applications and also the evidence needed about the legal basis of seizure to found a destruction application under the Firearms Act 1968.

ADDED Friday 17th September 2021

The Court of Appeal considered the scope and effect of R v Panayi (Andrew) [2019] 2 Cr App R (S) 21 and reviewed its powers on a prosecution appeal from the amount of, rather than a refusal to make, an order.

ADDED Wednesday 15th September 2021

What is the ambit of the Secretary of State’s power to issue warrants to GCHQ, authorising intelligence activities such as computer hacking? The court expressly recognised the aversion of the common law to general warrants and considered the lawfulness of so-called ‘thematic’ warrants, aimed at an entire class of persons or an entire category of equipment.

ADDED Monday 13th September 2021

The case was concerned with 'hostile silence', where witnesses have made written statements but, when called, they stand mute. Can the prosecution adduce their statements as hearsay in the interests of justice or as previous inconsistent statements?

ADDED Friday 10th September 2021

The case was concerned with the doctrine of residual diplomatic immunity, enjoyed by former diplomats after they have left their diplomatic post in a foreign embassy. The court considered the nature of immunity from suit and what is meant by 'the exercise of functions as a member of the mission'.

ADDED Thursday 9th September 2021

The case concerned whether Boris Johnson's advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament for an extended period (advice which she was constitutionally bound to follow) trespassed beyond the limits of the prerogative power and whether it was justiciable.

ADDED Wednesday 8th September 2021

The case related to marital rape and the cross-examination of complainants in sex cases. The Court of Appeal considered the operation of s.41 YJCEA 1999 and, in particular, whether it applies to questions about sexual orientation and sexual identity.

ADDED Thursday 2nd September 2021

An appeal from the Tribunal on the issue whether Security Service guidelines authorising agents to participate in criminality had any legal basis and whether they were compatible with the rule of law and with the European Convention on Human Rights.

ADDED Tuesday 31st August 2021

The CACD emphasised the need for a robust approach to the whole concept of ‘professional embarrassment’ and underlined the degree of care required before trial lawyers can take what Fulford LJ described as the ‘grave step’ of withdrawing from a case.

ADDED Friday 27th August 2021

A fatal accident on hotel premises led to conviction under the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The Court of Appeal (Civil Division) examined the intersection of criminal and civil liability and the relevance of the conviction in a civil action.

ADDED Monday 23rd August 2021

The appeal was based on a supposed lack of balance in the judge’s summing up. The CACD emphasised the imperative need for counsel not to sit on their hands but to raise with the judge at the time any issues they may have with his or her summing up.

ADDED Friday 20th August 2021

Contempt of court proceedings relating to an incident in which the BBC managed to broadcast on one of its main regional news programmes an unauthorised recording of a hearing which had been conducted by video link before a High Court judge.

ADDED Wednesday 18th August 2021

When sentencing a defendant after a retrial, and following a significant change of circumstance since the original conviction, what is the meaning of the prohibition on passing a sentence of ‘greater severity’ than the one imposed first time around?

ADDED Monday 16th August 2021

The calculation of the default terms of imprisonment where members of a criminal gang are each made the subject of confiscation orders based at least in part on the value of criminal property which they acquired together from a criminal conspiracy.

ADDED Friday 13th August 2021

When will the Court of Appeal give leave to an appellant to make submissions on an additional ground of appeal against conviction, even though the court has already decided that the appeal must be allowed and the conviction quashed on other grounds?

ADDED Wednesday 11th August 2021

Were communications obtained by the French authorities from the EncroChat secure communication system and then supplied by them to UK law enforcement admissible in evidence or excluded as 'intercept material' under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016? ADDED Monday 9th August 2021

Does the SFO's power under s.2(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 compel the production of documents held abroad by foreign-registered corporations with no registered office or place of business in the UK and never having carried on business here?

ADDED Friday 6th August 2021

“The attempts by Shamima Begum, the so-called ‘ISIS child bride’, to overturn decisions by the former Home Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, stripping her of her British passport and refusing entry clearance and leave to re-enter the UK.”

ADDED Thursday 5th August 2021

Three unrelated sentencing appeals were listed together because they raised common issues as to the correct approach to determining the appropriate reduction for a guilty plea.
ADDED Friday 23rd July 2021

The lawfulness of steps taken by the Justice Secretary and the Probation Service, following the Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist attack, to tighten the licence conditions of terrorist offenders released on licence.
ADDED Thursday 22nd July 2021

In a sentencing appeal relating to the unauthorised recording and disclosure of Highly Classified information, the court applied the so-called ‘brightline rule’ to a defendant whose Autism/Aspergers had fuelled his sense of grievance but not his ability to form the requisite intent.
ADDED Wednesday 21st July 2021

The developing approach taken by the Crown Prosecution Service to charging decisions in ‘RASSO’ cases arising from allegations of Rape or Serious Sexual Offences.
ADDED Friday 16th July 2021

Direct action by protesters in an attempt to stop a deportation flight, the criminal offences under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, the defence of necessity and challenges to the Law Officers’ consent to a prosecution.
ADDED Wednesday 14th July 2021

The measures taken in order to allow jury trials to continue during the Covid 19 emergency and the correct approach to Custody Time Limit applications where delay is attributable to the pandemic.
ADDED Tuesday 13th July 2021

The relationship between the police and the Crown Prosecution Service as an independent public prosecution body, and the duty of public bodies to act independently, transparently and not incompatibly with ECHR rights.
ADDED Friday 9th July 2021

“This case concerned the minimum requirements for a Case Stated and the nature of such an appeal.”
ADDED Wednesday 7th July 2021

Prosecution disclosure obligations in relation to mobile phones and other electronic devices held by complainants and prosecution witnesses.
ADDED Tuesday 6th July 2021
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