CRIMINAL PRACTICE NOTES
Detaining a Suspect at the Police Station and Police Interviews .......................................................................7
Key ...................................................................................................................................................................7
Procedure on arrival at the police station .............................................................................................................7
The custody officer ..........................................................................................................................................7
The decision to detain a suspect .......................................................................................................................8
Rights of a suspect being detained by the police for questioning ........................................................................8
Right to legal advice ........................................................................................................................................8
Right to have someone informed of arrest .......................................................................................................9
Detention time limits and reviews of detention under PACE 1984, Code C ...................................................9
The rights of a volunteer attending the police station ....................................................................................10
Advising a client whether to answer police questions .......................................................................................10
Information gathering on arrival at the police station .................................................................................... 11
The client’s options in interview and identifying the safest option ...............................................................12
Procedure for interviewing a suspect under PACE 1984 ...................................................................................13
Requirements of Codes C and E – Police Interviews ....................................................................................13
Start of the interview ......................................................................................................................................14
Conduct of the interview ................................................................................................................................15
Role and appropriate conduct by defence legal representative/solicitor ........................................................15
Conduct issues at the police station ...................................................................................................................16
The client who admits guilt ............................................................................................................................16
Conflict of interest .........................................................................................................................................16
Should a solicitor disclose to one client information they have been given by another client? ....................16
Disclosing the client’s case to a third party....................................................................................................16
The solicitor’s duty of disclosure to a client ..................................................................................................17
Withdrawing from acting ...............................................................................................................................17
Representing Vulnerable Clients ........................................................................................................................18
Informing the person responsible for the juvenile’s welfare..........................................................................18
Where the suspect doesn’t speak or understand English or has a hearing or speech impediment .................18
Where the suspect is blind or suffers from a serious visual impairment .......................................................18
The appropriate adult .........................................................................................................................................18
Who may be an appropriate adult?.................................................................................................................18
What is the role of the appropriate adult? ......................................................................................................19
Interviewing vulnerable suspects .......................................................................................................................19
Alternatives to charging juveniles ......................................................................................................................20
Community resolution....................................................................................................................................20
Youth cautions ................................................................................................................................................20
Youth conditional cautions .............................................................................................................................20
The effect of youth cautions and youth conditional cautions ........................................................................21
Principles and Procedures to Admit and Exclude Evidence ............................................................................22
Inferences from silence – ss 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 ...........................22
, The ‘right to silence’ ......................................................................................................................................22
Inferences under s 34 CJPOA 1994 ...............................................................................................................22
Inferences under s 36 CJPOA 1994 ...............................................................................................................24
Inferences under s 37 CJPOA 1994 ...............................................................................................................24
Identification Procedures ....................................................................................................................................25
When an identification procedure must be held.................................................................................................25
Different types of identification procedure under PACE 1984, Code D ............................................................25
Which type of identification procedure should be used? ...............................................................................25
Can an identification procedure be used if a witness has recognised a suspect from a photograph? ............26
Procedure to be followed for carrying out an identification procedure .............................................................26
Video identification (Code D, Annex A) ........................................................................................................26
Identification parades (Code D, Annex B) .....................................................................................................27
Group identification (Code D, Annex C) .......................................................................................................27
Confrontation (Code D, Annex D) .................................................................................................................27
Who is responsible for the running of an identification procedure? ..............................................................27
Legal adviser’s role at an identification procedure and advising a client ......................................................28
Video identification ........................................................................................................................................28
Identification parades .....................................................................................................................................29
Written records ...............................................................................................................................................29
First Hearings Before the Magistrates’ Court ...................................................................................................30
Classification of offences ...................................................................................................................................30
Offences triable only on indictment ...............................................................................................................30
Either-way offences........................................................................................................................................30
Summary offences ..........................................................................................................................................31
Public funding available to a defendant and applying for a representation order ..............................................31
Work done at the police station ......................................................................................................................31
Work done after the client is charged .............................................................................................................31
Procedural overview – what will happen at the first hearing .............................................................................34
Summary offences ..........................................................................................................................................35
Either-way offences........................................................................................................................................35
The role of the defence solicitor at the first hearing ..........................................................................................35
Allocation of Business between the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court..............................................36
Prosecution obligation to provide IDPC ........................................................................................................36
Advising a client on plea and trial venue ...........................................................................................................36
Advising on plea ............................................................................................................................................37
Advising on trial venue ..................................................................................................................................37
Professional conduct ......................................................................................................................................38
Procedure on defendant indicating plea (for either-way offences) ....................................................................39
Indicating a guilty plea ...................................................................................................................................39
Procedure ss 19– 20 and s 22A Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 ..........................................................................39
Allocation .......................................................................................................................................................39
Different pleas at the plea before venue hearing ............................................................................................40
, Sending without allocation – s 50A Crime and Disorder Act 1998 ...................................................................40
Bail .........................................................................................................................................................................42
Remands and custody time limits ......................................................................................................................42
Remands before conviction ............................................................................................................................42
Remands after conviction...............................................................................................................................43
The right to bail ..................................................................................................................................................43
Exceptions to the right to bail ........................................................................................................................43
Conditional bail ..................................................................................................................................................45
Electronic monitoring ....................................................................................................................................46
Procedure for applying for bail ..........................................................................................................................46
Further applications for bail ...............................................................................................................................47
Appeals against decisions on bail ......................................................................................................................47
Appeals by the defendant (CrimPR, r 14.8) ...................................................................................................47
Appeals by the prosecution (CrimPR, r 14.9) ................................................................................................47
Absconding and breaches of bail .......................................................................................................................47
Failing to surrender (absconding) ..................................................................................................................47
Breaching bail ................................................................................................................................................48
Principles and Procedures to Admit and Exclude Identification Evidence ....................................................49
Burden and standard of proof.............................................................................................................................49
The legal burden.............................................................................................................................................49
The evidential burden.....................................................................................................................................49
Visual identification evidence and Turnbull guidance .......................................................................................50
Challenging the admissibility of disputed visual identification evidence......................................................50
The Turnbull guidelines .................................................................................................................................50
The application of the Turnbull guidelines ....................................................................................................51
The Turnbull guidelines in the magistrates’ court ..........................................................................................52
Exclusion of evidence ........................................................................................................................................52
Scope and application of s 78 PACE and the right to a fair trial....................................................................52
Evidence obtained by entrapment and abuse of process ................................................................................53
Principles and Procedures to Admit and Exclude Evidence ............................................................................54
Hearsay evidence ...............................................................................................................................................54
Definition .......................................................................................................................................................54
Procedure for admitting hearsay ....................................................................................................................56
Determining the admissibility of hearsay evidence .......................................................................................56
Confession evidence ..........................................................................................................................................56
Definition .......................................................................................................................................................57
Admissibility ..................................................................................................................................................57
Challenging admissibility of confessions ......................................................................................................57
Significant statements ....................................................................................................................................58
Procedure for challenging the admissibility of confession evidence .............................................................58
Evidence obtained as a result of an inadmissible confession.........................................................................58
Character evidence .............................................................................................................................................59
, Definition of bad character ............................................................................................................................59
The 7 gateways s 101(1) Criminal Justice Act 2003 ......................................................................................59
Court’s powers to exclude defendant’s bad character ....................................................................................61
Procedure for admitting evidence of bad character........................................................................................61
Bad character of persons other than the defendant ........................................................................................61
Exclusion of evidence ........................................................................................................................................62
Scope and application of s 78 PACE and the right to a fair trial....................................................................62
Evidence obtained by entrapment and abuse of process ................................................................................62
Case Management and Pre-trail Hearings ........................................................................................................63
Magistrates’ court case management directions .................................................................................................63
Case management hearing .............................................................................................................................63
Additional trial preparation ............................................................................................................................63
Transforming Summary Justice (TSJ)............................................................................................................64
Plea and trial preparation hearing ......................................................................................................................65
Offences triable only on indictment ...............................................................................................................65
Either-way offences........................................................................................................................................65
Preliminary hearings in the Crown Court ......................................................................................................65
The PTPH .......................................................................................................................................................66
Disclosure – prosecution, defence and unused material ....................................................................................67
Initial prosecution duty of disclosure .............................................................................................................67
Defence disclosure .........................................................................................................................................68
Further disclosure obligations on the prosecution .........................................................................................68
Magistrates’ court trial preparation form ...........................................................................................................69
Preparation for effective trial (Criminal Procedure Rules Parts 1 & 3) .........................................................69
Trial Procedure in the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court .........................................................................72
Burden and standard of proof.............................................................................................................................72
Stages of a criminal trial, including submission of no case to answer...............................................................72
Trial in the magistrates’ court (CrimPR, Part 24) ..........................................................................................72
Trial in the Crown Court ................................................................................................................................74
Modes of address and court room etiquette .......................................................................................................75
Difference between leading and non-leading questions.....................................................................................76
Examination-in-chief .....................................................................................................................................76
Cross-examination .........................................................................................................................................76
Re-examination ..............................................................................................................................................76
Competence and compellability .........................................................................................................................76
The general rule .............................................................................................................................................76
Exception to the general rule on competence ................................................................................................76
Exceptions to the general rule on compellability ...........................................................................................77
Special measures ................................................................................................................................................77
Solicitor’s duty to the court ................................................................................................................................78
Preparing the defendant to give evidence ......................................................................................................78
Sentencing .............................................................................................................................................................79
Detaining a Suspect at the Police Station and Police Interviews .......................................................................7
Key ...................................................................................................................................................................7
Procedure on arrival at the police station .............................................................................................................7
The custody officer ..........................................................................................................................................7
The decision to detain a suspect .......................................................................................................................8
Rights of a suspect being detained by the police for questioning ........................................................................8
Right to legal advice ........................................................................................................................................8
Right to have someone informed of arrest .......................................................................................................9
Detention time limits and reviews of detention under PACE 1984, Code C ...................................................9
The rights of a volunteer attending the police station ....................................................................................10
Advising a client whether to answer police questions .......................................................................................10
Information gathering on arrival at the police station .................................................................................... 11
The client’s options in interview and identifying the safest option ...............................................................12
Procedure for interviewing a suspect under PACE 1984 ...................................................................................13
Requirements of Codes C and E – Police Interviews ....................................................................................13
Start of the interview ......................................................................................................................................14
Conduct of the interview ................................................................................................................................15
Role and appropriate conduct by defence legal representative/solicitor ........................................................15
Conduct issues at the police station ...................................................................................................................16
The client who admits guilt ............................................................................................................................16
Conflict of interest .........................................................................................................................................16
Should a solicitor disclose to one client information they have been given by another client? ....................16
Disclosing the client’s case to a third party....................................................................................................16
The solicitor’s duty of disclosure to a client ..................................................................................................17
Withdrawing from acting ...............................................................................................................................17
Representing Vulnerable Clients ........................................................................................................................18
Informing the person responsible for the juvenile’s welfare..........................................................................18
Where the suspect doesn’t speak or understand English or has a hearing or speech impediment .................18
Where the suspect is blind or suffers from a serious visual impairment .......................................................18
The appropriate adult .........................................................................................................................................18
Who may be an appropriate adult?.................................................................................................................18
What is the role of the appropriate adult? ......................................................................................................19
Interviewing vulnerable suspects .......................................................................................................................19
Alternatives to charging juveniles ......................................................................................................................20
Community resolution....................................................................................................................................20
Youth cautions ................................................................................................................................................20
Youth conditional cautions .............................................................................................................................20
The effect of youth cautions and youth conditional cautions ........................................................................21
Principles and Procedures to Admit and Exclude Evidence ............................................................................22
Inferences from silence – ss 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 ...........................22
, The ‘right to silence’ ......................................................................................................................................22
Inferences under s 34 CJPOA 1994 ...............................................................................................................22
Inferences under s 36 CJPOA 1994 ...............................................................................................................24
Inferences under s 37 CJPOA 1994 ...............................................................................................................24
Identification Procedures ....................................................................................................................................25
When an identification procedure must be held.................................................................................................25
Different types of identification procedure under PACE 1984, Code D ............................................................25
Which type of identification procedure should be used? ...............................................................................25
Can an identification procedure be used if a witness has recognised a suspect from a photograph? ............26
Procedure to be followed for carrying out an identification procedure .............................................................26
Video identification (Code D, Annex A) ........................................................................................................26
Identification parades (Code D, Annex B) .....................................................................................................27
Group identification (Code D, Annex C) .......................................................................................................27
Confrontation (Code D, Annex D) .................................................................................................................27
Who is responsible for the running of an identification procedure? ..............................................................27
Legal adviser’s role at an identification procedure and advising a client ......................................................28
Video identification ........................................................................................................................................28
Identification parades .....................................................................................................................................29
Written records ...............................................................................................................................................29
First Hearings Before the Magistrates’ Court ...................................................................................................30
Classification of offences ...................................................................................................................................30
Offences triable only on indictment ...............................................................................................................30
Either-way offences........................................................................................................................................30
Summary offences ..........................................................................................................................................31
Public funding available to a defendant and applying for a representation order ..............................................31
Work done at the police station ......................................................................................................................31
Work done after the client is charged .............................................................................................................31
Procedural overview – what will happen at the first hearing .............................................................................34
Summary offences ..........................................................................................................................................35
Either-way offences........................................................................................................................................35
The role of the defence solicitor at the first hearing ..........................................................................................35
Allocation of Business between the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court..............................................36
Prosecution obligation to provide IDPC ........................................................................................................36
Advising a client on plea and trial venue ...........................................................................................................36
Advising on plea ............................................................................................................................................37
Advising on trial venue ..................................................................................................................................37
Professional conduct ......................................................................................................................................38
Procedure on defendant indicating plea (for either-way offences) ....................................................................39
Indicating a guilty plea ...................................................................................................................................39
Procedure ss 19– 20 and s 22A Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 ..........................................................................39
Allocation .......................................................................................................................................................39
Different pleas at the plea before venue hearing ............................................................................................40
, Sending without allocation – s 50A Crime and Disorder Act 1998 ...................................................................40
Bail .........................................................................................................................................................................42
Remands and custody time limits ......................................................................................................................42
Remands before conviction ............................................................................................................................42
Remands after conviction...............................................................................................................................43
The right to bail ..................................................................................................................................................43
Exceptions to the right to bail ........................................................................................................................43
Conditional bail ..................................................................................................................................................45
Electronic monitoring ....................................................................................................................................46
Procedure for applying for bail ..........................................................................................................................46
Further applications for bail ...............................................................................................................................47
Appeals against decisions on bail ......................................................................................................................47
Appeals by the defendant (CrimPR, r 14.8) ...................................................................................................47
Appeals by the prosecution (CrimPR, r 14.9) ................................................................................................47
Absconding and breaches of bail .......................................................................................................................47
Failing to surrender (absconding) ..................................................................................................................47
Breaching bail ................................................................................................................................................48
Principles and Procedures to Admit and Exclude Identification Evidence ....................................................49
Burden and standard of proof.............................................................................................................................49
The legal burden.............................................................................................................................................49
The evidential burden.....................................................................................................................................49
Visual identification evidence and Turnbull guidance .......................................................................................50
Challenging the admissibility of disputed visual identification evidence......................................................50
The Turnbull guidelines .................................................................................................................................50
The application of the Turnbull guidelines ....................................................................................................51
The Turnbull guidelines in the magistrates’ court ..........................................................................................52
Exclusion of evidence ........................................................................................................................................52
Scope and application of s 78 PACE and the right to a fair trial....................................................................52
Evidence obtained by entrapment and abuse of process ................................................................................53
Principles and Procedures to Admit and Exclude Evidence ............................................................................54
Hearsay evidence ...............................................................................................................................................54
Definition .......................................................................................................................................................54
Procedure for admitting hearsay ....................................................................................................................56
Determining the admissibility of hearsay evidence .......................................................................................56
Confession evidence ..........................................................................................................................................56
Definition .......................................................................................................................................................57
Admissibility ..................................................................................................................................................57
Challenging admissibility of confessions ......................................................................................................57
Significant statements ....................................................................................................................................58
Procedure for challenging the admissibility of confession evidence .............................................................58
Evidence obtained as a result of an inadmissible confession.........................................................................58
Character evidence .............................................................................................................................................59
, Definition of bad character ............................................................................................................................59
The 7 gateways s 101(1) Criminal Justice Act 2003 ......................................................................................59
Court’s powers to exclude defendant’s bad character ....................................................................................61
Procedure for admitting evidence of bad character........................................................................................61
Bad character of persons other than the defendant ........................................................................................61
Exclusion of evidence ........................................................................................................................................62
Scope and application of s 78 PACE and the right to a fair trial....................................................................62
Evidence obtained by entrapment and abuse of process ................................................................................62
Case Management and Pre-trail Hearings ........................................................................................................63
Magistrates’ court case management directions .................................................................................................63
Case management hearing .............................................................................................................................63
Additional trial preparation ............................................................................................................................63
Transforming Summary Justice (TSJ)............................................................................................................64
Plea and trial preparation hearing ......................................................................................................................65
Offences triable only on indictment ...............................................................................................................65
Either-way offences........................................................................................................................................65
Preliminary hearings in the Crown Court ......................................................................................................65
The PTPH .......................................................................................................................................................66
Disclosure – prosecution, defence and unused material ....................................................................................67
Initial prosecution duty of disclosure .............................................................................................................67
Defence disclosure .........................................................................................................................................68
Further disclosure obligations on the prosecution .........................................................................................68
Magistrates’ court trial preparation form ...........................................................................................................69
Preparation for effective trial (Criminal Procedure Rules Parts 1 & 3) .........................................................69
Trial Procedure in the Magistrates’ Court and Crown Court .........................................................................72
Burden and standard of proof.............................................................................................................................72
Stages of a criminal trial, including submission of no case to answer...............................................................72
Trial in the magistrates’ court (CrimPR, Part 24) ..........................................................................................72
Trial in the Crown Court ................................................................................................................................74
Modes of address and court room etiquette .......................................................................................................75
Difference between leading and non-leading questions.....................................................................................76
Examination-in-chief .....................................................................................................................................76
Cross-examination .........................................................................................................................................76
Re-examination ..............................................................................................................................................76
Competence and compellability .........................................................................................................................76
The general rule .............................................................................................................................................76
Exception to the general rule on competence ................................................................................................76
Exceptions to the general rule on compellability ...........................................................................................77
Special measures ................................................................................................................................................77
Solicitor’s duty to the court ................................................................................................................................78
Preparing the defendant to give evidence ......................................................................................................78
Sentencing .............................................................................................................................................................79
