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is the oldest common law court in Great Britain and has
performed a judicial function in one form or another since the
15th century. It is the highest court throughout the United
Kingdom (similar to the supreme court in USA) and is situated at
the houses of Parliament. There are between nine and 11 law
lords. Two come from the Scottish judiciary and sometimes one
from Northern Ireland. The Lord Chancellor, and former Lord
Chancellors are also entitled to sit. A case will be heard by at
least three, but sometimes up to seven, Law Lords, and the
outcome is decided by a majority verdict. The correct title for
the House of Lords sitting in its judicial capacity is the
Appellate committee of the House of Lords. Law Lords are life
peers and are entitled to attend political debates. Law Lords
are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen, on the advice of the
Lord Chancellor, and must retire at the age of 75 years. They
must be a barrister of 15 years' standing, or have been a judge
for at least 10 years.
UK Legal SystemThe legal system in the United
Kingdom is adversarial in all courts, including the juvenile
courts. The prosecution must disclose relevant information to
the defense, but the corresponding duty on the defense does not
exist.
UK Classification of Crime
In the United Kingdom, there are many ways of classifying
crimes, they are largely distinguished on the basis of their
seriousness. In addition, offenses may be classified according
to the procedure by which a case is brought to trial (in a
magistrates' court only, by indictment, or triable-either-way in
a magistrates' or the higher Crown Court), according to the
availability of the sanction of imprisonment, or in terms of the
Home Office's Standard List of more serious offenses.
Age of criminal responsibility. The age of criminal
responsibility in England and Wales is 10. Children between 10
and 17 years of age are brought before a youth court when
charged with a criminal offense. The sanctions available to
youth courts are more restricted than those for adult courts,
the major differences being that fines can be imposed which
parents must pay and supervision or attendance center orders may
be imposed.
Drug offenses. The classification of drugs by seriousness of
offense presents particular difficulties. The Misuse of Drugs
Act of 1971, created for the purpose of narcotic control, listed
certain drugs as Class A, B, or C, depending on the magnitude of
harm deemed to be attached to their trafficking and use. Drugs
can be reclassified and new drugs classified within this
framework. It is essential that flexibility be maintained so
that drug classification is kept in line with current social and
scientific opinion. The Misuse of Drugs Act was intended to
regulate the use and flow of drugs. Accordingly, as a general
rule it is unlawful to import or export, produce, supply,
possess, prepare or cultivate any controlled substance.
UK Police Powers and Procedures
Police powers and use of discretion. The Police and Criminal
Evidence Act of 1984 allows a police officer to stop, detain and
search persons and vehicles for stolen goods, weapons, or other
tools of crime, and they may set up roadblocks in certain
circumstances. The officer must state and record the grounds for
taking this action and record what was found. In 1995, the
police recorded 690,300 stops and searches of persons and/or
vehicles, an increase of 20 per cent over the previous year.
Twelve per cent of searches led to an arrest. The police have
powers to enter and search premises and to seize and retain
property. The police may seize anything which on reasonable
grounds is believed to be evidence of the offense under
investigation, or of any other, or which had been obtained
following an offence.
Decision to arrest. Arrest may occur without a warrant where
a person is reasonably suspected of having committed an
arrestable offense, or a magistrate may issue a warrant.
Use of force. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1994
allows a police constable to use reasonable force if necessary
to detain or search a person or vehicle. What is reasonable
force will depend on the circumstances and the extent to which
the citizen resists.
Rights of the Accused or Suspects in the United Kingdom
Legal advice. One of the most important rights available to
those detained on the suspicion of committing an offence is the
right to free and independent legal advice. Persons detained at
the police station must be notified of their right to free legal
advice by the custody officer. Legal advice can be obtained
regardless of means, privately or through the Duty Solicitor
Scheme.
Right of silence. Suspects may opt to remain silent during
interviews with the police. Under the Criminal Justice and
Public Order Act 1994 however, the court, under certain
circumstances, may draw adverse inferences where suspects
exercise this right.
Accountability. The Police Complaints Authority, established
in 1984, supervises the investigations of alleged serious
misconduct by police officers and decides whether a breach of
discipline should be charged. If a police officer is alleged to
have killed or seriously injured a citizen, the Authority must
oversee an investigation. The Authority will hand a case to the
Crown Prosecution Service if a judgement is reached that a
criminal offense may have been committed. Discriminatory
behavior is an offense under the Police Discipline Code.
Legal advice is available to all defendants charged with an
offense. Duty solicitors are on hand at the court to provide
legal representation, or defendants, particularly those with
prior knowledge of the criminal justice system, may use the
services of a private solicitor before their appearance at
court. Legal aid must be granted when a defendant faces a murder
charge or where the prosecutor appeals to the House of Lords.
Otherwise, complete or partial payment of legal costs is made
available if the defendant is deemed to require such assistance
after a means inquiry.
UK Judicial and Prosecutorial Process and Procedures
When the police wish to offer a case for prosecution, they
charge the defendant and hand case papers to the Crown
Prosecution Service, which then reviews the evidence and makes a
decision whether or not to prosecute. Currently, around 26% of
all cases are discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service on
the grounds of either insufficiency of evidence or a judgment
that it is not in the public interest to pursue a case.
Once in court, a defendant may be found guilty, acquitted,
have the sentence deferred for up to 6 months, have an absolute
discharge or be conditionally discharged on good conduct.
Who conducts prosecutions in the UK?
The Crown Prosecution Service took over responsibility for
prosecution from the police in England and Wales in 1986, and
are currently under increasingly heavy criticism. The two
problems which their introduction was intended to address were
regional differences in rates of prosecution and the high rates
of directed acquittals in the Crown Court. However, both of
these problems now appear to be worse than before the Crown
Prosecution Service was introduced. The Service has been accused
of discontinuing winnable cases due to incompetence and for
wasting police time by demanding the preparation of full case
dossiers in advance of a decision to prosecute. In addition, the
necessity to create administrative units within the police
service to weed out cases before they are considered by the
Crown Prosecution Service is seen as overly time consuming.
Finally, the Service is less accountable for its actions than
the police or courts, a matter which has attracted increasing
concern and criticism. The Serious Fraud Office, established in
1988, investigates and prosecutes the most serious and complex
fraud offenses in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland. The
SFO has itself attracted criticism for its failure to secure
prosecutions in some notorious cases.
Alternatives to trial. Options exist for a court appearance
to be avoided. This may be by a formal caution administered by
the police, used disproportionately for young offenders, or by
discontinuance of a case by the Crown Prosecution Service. A
formal caution requires that certain conditions be satisfied,
including the admission of the offense and the willingness of
the offender, or his or her legal guardian if the offender is a
juvenile, to proceed as the police wish. A movement is currently
under way to persuade the Government to permit legal aid for
mediation procedures as an attempt to avoid the court process.
Pre-trial incarceration conditions. There are limits to the
length of the remand period. In magistrates court trials, the
defendant must not be in custody more than 56 days from their
first court appearance to trial. If there is a committal for
trial to the Crown Court, this must take place within 70 days of
the first court appearance. If a plea has not been taken within
112 days of committal the defendant is entitled to bail unless
the court extends the limit. To do this properly, the court must
be satisfied that the prosecution has acted as swiftly as was
reasonably possible.
United Kingdom Bail Procedure
The police may release an accused person on bail. Under new
provisions in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 the
police can attach bail conditions to a person's bail before the
first court appearance. If bail is not granted by the police, a
swift appearance before a magistrates court occurs. There is a
presumption in favor of bail under the Bail Act of 1974. The
presumption for bail may be over-ridden on clearly defined
grounds, such as the judgment that an accused will interfere
with the administration of justice or abscond. There is a
limited right of appeal against a magisterial decision to deny
bail.
UK Extradition and Treaties
For the purpose of extradition, the legal framework in the
United Kingdom distinguishes between different types of states.
First are those designated as Commonwealth countries and
Dependent Territories, where extradition is governed by the
Fugitive Offenses Act of 1967. These states include: Australia,
Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji,
Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho,
Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore,
Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo,
Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Western Samoa and Zambia.
Dependent territories include Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin
Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong,
Monserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St. Helena and the Turk and Cacos
Islands. Second, the U.K. has Extradition Acts which govern
treaty agreements with the following foreign states: Albania,
Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba,
Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Israel, Italy,
Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Nicaragua,
Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Salvador, San
Marino, Switzerland and Thailand. Finally, extradition between
the Republic of Ireland and the U.K. is controlled by the 1965
Backing of Warrents Act, in accordance with the 1978 Suppression
of Terrorism Act, which gives effect to the European Convention
on the Suppression of Terrorism. |
