2 Hare Court

This Practice Note explains the disclosure requirements on defendants in criminal proceedings. It explains when a defence statement must be served under section 5 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA 1996) and the requirement on the accused to give the prosecution and the court a defence witness notice. The Practice Note also explains the form and content requirements of a defence statement under CPIA 1996, s 5 and the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020 (CrimPR 2020), SI 2020/759 as well as the time limits for serving defence disclosure during a criminal prosecution. The sanctions for non-compliance with the statutory duty of disclosure and the adverse inferences which can be drawn for failing to serve a defence statement are explained.

This Practice Note considers disclosure duties of a private prosecutor. It reviews the obligations on a private prosecutor under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CPIA 1996), as well as any common law duties, when these responsibilities arise, and what the responsibilities are at each stage of proceedings. It also outlines what consequences could flow from a failure to comply with these duties, the purpose and test for disclosure in the proceedings, and how the duties of disclosure on a private prosecutor diverge from those on a public prosecutor. It considers in detail the prosecutor’s duty of full and frank disclosure in relation to ex parte applications, as well as a private prosecutor’s responsibilities to pursue reasonable lines of enquiry and what this means in practice. It also covers privilege considerations and why legal professional privilege (LPP) considerations do not offer any protection to a private prosecutor in terms of their disclosure obligations, how this is different from a public prosecutor, and what practical steps private prosecutors can and should be taking to protect themselves from having to disclose privileged material. It also covers public interest immunity (PII) considerations for private prosecutors and provides tips for private prosecutors on the gathering, managing, documenting and storing of evidence and other material.

This Practice Note covers the law in relation to excluding evidence of the defendant's bad character under section 101(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, and excluding evidence of 'bad character' under section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984). It deals in particular with evidence of a co-defendant's bad character, whether Article 6 of the ECHR is a bar to admissibility, and whether PACE 1984, s 78 operates to exclude bad character admitted as important explanatory evidence. It then deals with exclusion of evidence under the Criminal Procedure Rules. Finally it cover the forms and time limits for applications to exclude, in particular, applications to exclude the defendant's bad character and objecting to a non-defendant's bad character.

This Practice Note covers the test for exclusion of evidence under section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984). It includes information on applications to exclude evidence on grounds of breach of the PACE 1984 codes of practice and tainted interviews. This Practice Note also explains how to make an application to exclude video-recorded evidence-in-chief and for the exclusion of evidence obtained by surveillance. It covers the procedure for making an application to exclude evidence and voir dire.

This Practice Note explains how third-party material needs to be identified in the Defence case statement. It covers the investigators duties under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 and the accompanying Code of Practice to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry and the disclosure obligations of crown servants and the impact of public interest immunity (PII). It explains how to obtain disclosure from a third party directly and how to apply for a witness summons for production of material under the Criminal Procedure Rules. The Note also explains how wasted costs may be awarded in unmeritorious third-party applications for disclosure.

This Practice Note explains the provisions under Chapter 3A of Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002), governing the recovery of personal property in summary proceedings (also known as the detention and forfeiture of listed assets). It covers related powers of search and seizure under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE 1984) and POCA 2002, including civil recovery powers; the definition of recoverable property and unlawful conduct for the purposes of these provisions; the powers and procedure applicable under the recovery of listed assets regime, including search powers and conditions for their exercise, seizure powers, and detention and forfeiture powers; together with appeals and what to do with associated or joint property. Finally there is a section on procedure, which has been introduced under the Magistrates’ Courts (Detention and Forfeiture of Listed Assets) Rules 2017, SI 2017/1293.

This Practice Note explains the offence of sexual assault under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA 2003) as well as the offences of assault by penetration under SOA 2003, s 2 and of causing a person to engaging in sexual activity without consent under SOA 2003, s 4. It also explains the old law relating to indecent assault under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 which pre-dated SOA 2003 but under which offences are still routinely prosecuted. The Practice Note explains the elements of the offence, consent and the meaning of penetration, sexual touching, intention and the affect of intoxication. It describes sentencing practice for sexual assault and includes links to the relevant sentencing guidelines and the General guideline—overarching principles.

This Practice Note explains the disclosure and service of prosecution evidence in criminal proceedings in England and Wales under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA 1998) and the Criminal Procedure Rules 2020, SI 2020/759 (CrimPR). It deals with the requirements for the form in which evidence is served and how defence objections are dealt with.