Police errors mean girl’s killer may never be found – The Independent
“Officers to be disciplined over poor handling of covert surveillance operation.”
The Independent, 16th October 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Category: evidence
Should intercept evidence on terror suspects be made admissible in court? – The Times
“The control orders regime for detaining suspects who have been neither charged nor prosecuted has been widely discredited.”
The Times, 17th September 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Fake video footage ‘persuades half of people to wrongly accuse others of crime’ – Daily Telegraph
“Fake video footage can persuade almost half of viewers to accuse people of crimes they have not committed, new research suggests.”
Full story
Daily Telegraph, 17th September 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
R v Greene – WLR Daily
“Where a judge ruled that a witness could be treated as a hostile in examination at trial within the meaning of s 3 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1865 by the party calling him, but that witness did not in the event prove to be hostile, the judge was still obliged to warn the jury to approach that witness’s evidence with some caution, and the nature of that direction depended on the particular circumstances of the case.”
WLR Daily, 14th August 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Desmond v Bower – Times Law Reports
Court of Appeal
“A defendant who wished to call similar-fact evidence to justify an alleged libel was entitled to do so even though the evidence related to events after the libel was published.”
The Times, 4th August 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Desmond v Bower – WLR Daily
Desmond v Bower [2009] EWCA Civ 667; [2009] WLR (D) 258
“The reasoning of the judge refusing the defendant in a libel trial permission to call evidence of discreditable behaviour by the claimant subsequent to the alleged libel was a matter of law in which the appellate court was entitled to intervene. Evidence of discreditable behaviour similar to that described in the alleged libel could be admitted even though the evidence concerned behaviour subsequent to the libel.”
WLR Daily, 28th July 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
File loss blunder in rape case – BBC News
“A man suspected of raping a woman 12 years ago cannot face prosecution, as the police have lost the case file.”
BBC News, 28th July 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
The Big Question: Will phone tapping convict more people, and why are its opponents so worried? – The Independent
“Why are we asking this now?
Because a government watchdog has warned against the use of phone-tap evidence in court, following mock trials in which its use gave every indication of being a disaster. Sir Paul Kennedy, the Interception of Communications Commissioner and a former Lord Justice of Appeal, said he could see no way to overcome problems with such evidence, and that the Government should drop its plans. Use of the technique at trials through March and April revealed “real legal and operational difficulties inherent in using intercept as evidence in the UK”, he said, before adding: “I cannot see a way to safely overcome these”. Aside from the immediate question of whether the law should be changed, intercepted phone calls have come under the spotlight with increasing frequency. Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who now advises David Cameron, revealed this week that he had his phone bugged during his reign at the paper. Last year Sadiq Khan, a Labour MP, had his phone bugged during conversations with a constituent who was suspected of involvement in terrorism.”
The Independent, 23rd July 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Gordon Brown’s plans to use phone tapping evidence in court thrown into chaos – The Times
“The proposed use of phone tapping evidence to secure convictions in terrorist and criminal trials has been shown in secret tests to be unworkable.”
The Times, 22nd July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Met ‘missed opportunities’ over Baby P – BBC News
“Police missed opportunities to gather evidence about the ill-treatment of Baby Peter in the months before his death, according to an unpublished report.”
BBC News, 16th July 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
R v Erskine; R v Williams – WLR Daily
R v Erskine; R v Williams [2009] EWCA Crim 1425; [2009] WLR (D) 241
“Where an appeal against a conviction for murder raised the issue of diminished responsibility for the first time, the parties should provide the court with a detailed analysis of the relevant facts in order to assist the court in deciding whether evidence not adduced at trial should be heard on appeal.”
WLR Daily, 15th July 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Regina v Knaggs – WLR Daily
Regina v Knaggs [2009] EWCA Crim 1363; [2009] WLR (D) 239
“A defendant who had pleaded guilty to an offence without any challenge to the facts by way of a Newton hearing was not thereby debarred, as a matter of law, from challenging the prosecution evidence for the purposes of a confiscation hearing.”
WLR Daily, 14th July 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Lords ruling reduces contracts’ certainty, says expert – OUT-LAW.com
“A landmark House of Lords ruling will undermine the certainty of contracts and could make it more expensive to take cases over contract interpretation to court, according to a contract law expert.”
OUT-LAW.com, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.out-law.com
Chartbrook Ltd and another v Persimmon Homes Ltd and another – WLR Daily
Chartbrook Ltd and another v Persimmon Homes Ltd and another [2009] UKHL 38; [2009] WLR (D) 223
“The admission of pre-contractual negotiations as an aid to the construction of a contract would create uncertainty of outcome in disputes over interpretation and would add to the cost of advice and litigation. The law of contract was designed to enforce promises with a high degree of predictability and if conventional meanings and syntax were to be displaced by inferences drawn from pre-contractual negotiations, the less predictable the outcome was likely to be. The availability of the remedies of rectification and estoppel by convention were safeguards which would in most cases prevent any injustice caused by the exclusion of that evidence.”
WLR Daily, 1st July 2009
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Chartbrook Ltd and Another v Persimmon Homes Ltd and Another – Times Law Reports
Chartbrook Ltd and Another v Persimmon Homes Ltd and Another
House of Lords
“There were no grounds for the House of Lords to depart from the long standing rule that excluded evidence of what was said or done during the course of negotiating a contract for the purpose of drawing inferences about what the contract meant.”
The Times, 2nd July 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Murder pleas ‘had to be dropped’ – BBC News
“Two brothers convicted of killing a bank chief expected to face a murder trial until their court case started.”
BBC News, 9th June 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Appeal judges asked to clear notorious murderer Dr Crippen – The Observer
“The case of one of the most notorious murderers in British history, Hawley Crippen, is to be referred to the Court of Appeal, where the infamous doctor may secure a posthumous pardon 99 years after he was hanged.”
The Observer, 7th June 2009
Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk
George v Eagle Air Services Ltd and Others – Times Law Reports
George v Eagle Air Services Ltd and Others
Privy Council
“The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself, applied in a claim for damages arising out of an allegation of negligence causing an air crash, so that the burden of proof shifted to the defendant owners and operators of the aircraft to produce an explanation which was consistent with the crash having occurred despite the absence of fault on their part.”
The Times, 15th May 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
George v Eagle Air Services Ltd – WLR Daily
George v Eagle Air Services Ltd
“The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applied in aviation cases where a claim for damages was based on an allegation of negligence which caused an aircraft to crash. The burden of proof then shifted to the defendant owners/operators of the aircraft to produce an explanation which was consistent with the air crash having occurred without any fault on their part.”
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Findings on pregnant suicide open Eddie Gilfoyle case to doubt – The Times
“Crucial new evidence has emerged that casts doubt on the conviction of a man serving a life sentence for the murder of his pregnant wife.”
The Times, 13th May 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
