Criminal Litigation Mock Revision Notes

CRIMINAL LITIGATION Classification of offences: • Summary only – start and end in Magistrates’ court. • Triable either way – either Magistrates’ or Crown Court. • Indictable only – Crown Court only. PACE COP Code C, NFG 6D: Solicitors only role at the police station is to protect and advance the legal rights of their client. Standard of proof: beyond reasonable doubt. Means Test: Automatic if gross income of under £12,475 + Merits Test: AJA 1999 Schedule 3 à form to allow Legal Aid officer to determine whether there is a risk of receiving a custodial sentence. Case Management and CrPR: • CrPR 1.1: The overriding objective is that criminal cases be dealt with justly. • CrPR 3.2: The court must further the overriding objective by actively managing the case. • CrPR 3.5(6): The court can impose broad sanctions for non-compliance with the CrPRs. CASE MANAGEMENT AND PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT Where you client tells you that they have committed the offence, but they are going to lie at interview. ISSUE – Would the instructions amount to misleading the court? PRINCIPLES – Principle 1 – We must uphold the law and proper administration of justice. Principle 2 – We must act with integrity. Principle 4 – We must act in our client’s best interests. Principle 6 – We must behave in a way that maintains the public trust. OUTCOMES – O(5.1) – You do not attempt to deceive or knowingly or recklessly mislead the court. O(5.2) – You are not complicit in another so doing. O(4.1) – You must keep the affairs of clients confidential [ALWAYS THE OVERRIDING PRINCIPLE] ACT? – Lying at interview: • If you allow your client to lie you would not be meeting O(5.1) and O(5.2) as the interview would be used as evidence at court. • IB(5.9) – You cannot call a witness whose evidence is untrue. • If he insists he is going to continue to lie, you are in breach of P1 and P2. o O(4.1) - You have to withdraw from acting for the client while maintaining confidentiality. o O(5.5) – The client must be informed that duty to court overrides obligation to client. o IB(5.5) – If the client insists on a course of action in breach, you must cease acting. Remaining silent at interview: • Para 4.5.2 LS PN CPR 2015 – The client is entitled to put the prosecution to proof which is a fundamental right under the adversarial system. • P4 – This method may be in the best interests of the client if the evidence is weak. • As soon as the client asserts innocence = misleading the court and there is a breach of O(5.1). CONCLUSION – Can continue to act providing the client does not assert his innocence at any point. CRIMINAL LITIGATION Where client A and B are co-defendants and have two different accounts of what happened. CLIENT B: ISSUE – There is a conflict of interest between Client A and Client B. PRINCIPLES – Principle 2 – We must act with integrity. Principle 4 – We must act in our client’s best interests. OUTCOMES – O(3.5) – You must not act if there is a conflict or a significant risk of a client conflict. O(3.6)/O(3.7) – DO NOT APPLY IN CRIMINAL LITIGATION.