Criminal Justice Act 2003

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (CJA 2003) permits the admission of bad character evidence under several statutory ‘gateways’. One of those gateways is if the evidence is 'important explanatory evidence' (CJA 2003, s 101(1)(c)). This also known as gateway C and is not restricted to prosecution evidence.

However, this gateway (and other statutory gateways) only applies if the evidence falls within the definition of 'bad character' as set out in CJA 2003, s 98. Bad character is defined as evidence of, or a disposition towards, misconduct on the defendant’s part, not including evidence which has to do with the offence with which the defendant is charged or evidence of misconduct relating to the investigation of prosecution of that offence.

Misconduct is defined as the commission of any offence or other reprehensible behaviour.

For example, in R v Osbourne it was held that evidence that the defendant would sometimes be aggressive and shout when he had not taken his medication was not evidence of 'bad character' within the meaning of the