In this week’s Digest, there were two interesting decisions handed down by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). In the first, a conviction for conspiracy to import cannabis was quashed on the basis that the evidence had been admitted which, in its unredacted form, was prejudicial to the appellant. In the second, the trial judge gave no direction as to the admitted hearsay evidence, but a conviction of murder was upheld since this did not amount to a material misdirection. Elsewhere, the Administrative Court upheld the decision of the Criminal Cases Review Commission not to refer the claimant’s case for a third time to the Court of Appeal and the Court quashed an order for costs made in the Crown Court as the judge has erred in his application of s.19 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

 

R v. RJ [2017] EWCA Crim 1943

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Lord Justice Simon on 28.11.17.

This was an appeal against conviction for conspiracy to import cannabis on the grounds that the judge erred in (i) admitting evidence which should have been excluded and (ii) allowing evidence of his previous conviction to be adduced. The appeal was allowed and the conviction quashed on the basis that an important piece of evidence – the appellant’s notebook –  should not have been put before the jury in the form it was and, in addition, there was no appropriate direction in relation to that piece of evidence such that the conviction was rendered unsafe.

 

R v. Daley [2017] EWCA Crim 1971

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Lord Justice Simon on 01.12.17.

This was an appeal against a conviction for murder on the basis that the judge’s handling of the hearsay evidence relating to the appellant’s character at trial amounted to a material misdirection rendering the appellant’s conviction unsafe. The appeal was dismissed. Owing to the fact that the hearsay evidence had become far less significant in the context of the issue the jury had to determine, the judge’s omission to give a direction as to the utility and limits of hearsay evidence did not amount to a material misdirection rendering the conviction unsafe.

 

R (on the application of Hart and others) v. The Crown Court at Blackfriars and another [2017] EWHC 3091 (Admin)

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Lord Justice Holroyde on 30.11.17 sitting in the Administrative Court.

This was an application for judicial review of the issue and execution of two search warrants, issued in the Crown Court at Blackfriars on 12 December 2016 and executed by searched of the claimants’ premises on 14 December 2016. The basis for the challenge was the, in making their application, HMRC (the second defendant) misrepresented the law and facts to the judge in important respects. The claim succeeded on the narrow basis that HMRC overstated their case without sufficient foundation or disclosure to enable the judge to give fair consideration to it. There was, in the judgment of the court, a material misrepresentation of the facts and a failure to draw the relevant matters to the judge’s attention.

 

R (on the application of Gilfoyle) v. Criminal Cases Review Commission [2017] EWHC 3008 (Admin)

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Lady Justice Sharp on 24.11.17 sitting in the Administrative Court.

The claimant sought judicial review of the defendant’s decision not to refer the claimant’s conviction for murder to the Court of Appeal. The claimant had on two previous occasions appealed unsuccessfully to Court of Appeal and on this occasion contended that the defendant’s decision not to refer was irrational in a number of respects. The claim failed and permission to review refused on the basis that no element of the decision was irrational and that the court was thus not entitled to interfere with the defendant’s lawful exercise of discretion.

 

Wright v. Parole Board of England and Wales [2017] EWHC 3007 (Admin)

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Mr Justice Jeremy Baker on 27.11.17 sitting in the Administrative Court.

The claimant sought judicial review of a decision of the Parole Board on the basis that they had made a determination about the claimant in the absence of a full psychological risk assessment which the defendant had itself commissioned. The claim did not succeed; there could be no valid criticism made of the defendant’s decision not to adjourn the review hearing for psychological reports and the claimant had not suffered any unfairness as a result.

 

R (on the application of the Director of Public Prosecution) v. Aylesbury Crown Court [2017] EWHC 2987 (Admin)

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Lady Justice Sharp on 24.11.17 sitting in the Administrative Court.

This was an application by the Crown Prosecution Service seeking an order quashing the costs order made against it under s.19 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 and the Costs in Criminal Cases (General) Regulation 1986. The applicant’s core submission was that the judge fell into error in ruling that the CPS should be liable for the actions of an expert witness and, in any event, the judge did not specify the costs actually to be paid in the order as they were required. The claim succeeded and costs order was quashed.

 

Kozlowski v. Regional Court in Piotrkow Trybunalski (Poland) [2017] EWHC 3005 (Admin)

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Mr Justice William Davis on 22.11.17 sitting in the Administrative Court.

This was an appeal against extradition on two grounds: (i) the offence with which the appellant was charged was not an extradition offence; and (ii) extradition would be incompatible with the appellant’s article 8 ECHR rights. The appeal was allowed, but not on the grounds put forward. Rather, since the appellant had been detained for the same term he would have served in prison had he been extradited, the judge followed Dudkiewicz v. Regional Court in Warsaw (Poland) [2017] EWHC 2171 and discharged the arrest warrant.

 

R (on the application of Vigrass) v. Parole Board of England and Wales [2017] EWHC 3022 (Admin)

The judgment, available here, was handed down by Mr Jonathan Swift QC on 23.11.17, sitting as a Deputy Judge High Court judge in the Administrative Court.

The claimant sought judicial review of defendant’s failure to address in a decision letter whether or not the claimant should be transferred to open prison conditions. The claim succeeded on the basis that the defendant had been asked by the Secretary of State to consider this aspect. A mandatory order granted compelling the defendant to consider this.

 

Other News

Lord Steyn died last week, aged 85

Security clampdown at the Hague after Praljak suicide

Man jailed for murdering toddler stepson 50 years ago

Senior police officers to lose power to self-authorise access to personal web and phone records

Scottish politicians to ask ECJ if UK can stop Brexit

 

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