KSL ATP Criminal Litigation study plan

Map the PACE 1984 stop-and-search and arrest powers, distinguishing the statutory grounds, necessity criteria and safeguards for each.

Sequence the detention clock from arrival at the station through to charge or release, stating the review intervals and the limits on detention without charge.

Explain the operation of the right to legal advice and the exceptions that permit delay, applying the correct Code provision to three short fact patterns.

Identify the consequences of a breach of PACE or the Codes for later admissibility, linking each breach to the relevant exclusionary discretion.

Classify each evidence type in a mixed problem question as admissible, inadmissible or admissible subject to discretion, giving the statutory or common law basis.

Apply the confessions provisions and the unfairly obtained evidence discretion to a fact pattern where a suspect was interviewed without a solicitor.

Distinguish hearsay from original evidence and identify which hearsay gateway is realistically available on given facts.

Evaluate bad character evidence for both defendants and non-defendants, stating the gateways, the notice requirements and the fairness test.

Draft short submissions to exclude evidence, using the correct burden, standard and terminology throughout.

Trace the charging decision from police referral to CPS review, stating the evidential and public interest stages and the routes to a charging decision being changed.

Set out the first hearing procedure and allocation decision, explaining how plea before venue and mode of trial are determined and when a defendant may be sent for trial.

Apply the Criminal Procedure Rules on case management, disclosure and unused material to a timeline of pre-trial hearings.

Apply the professional conduct rules to conflicts of interest, confidentiality and the duty to the court in three short ethical dilemmas.

Distinguish the practitioner's duties to the client from duties owed to the court and to third parties when instructions are withdrawn.

Run a summary trial in sequence from charge through plea, trial, verdict and sentence, naming each procedural step and the correct order of events.

Draft and deliver a bail application using the statutory framework, addressing the exceptions to the right to bail and the conditions available.

Prepare the opposing case for a remand in custody, using the relevant statutory criteria and risk-based submissions.

Apply special measures and other procedural protections relevant to vulnerable participants in a summary hearing.

Determine the correct sentencing powers by identifying the offence category, the statutory maximum and the applicable guideline starting point.

Construct an aggravating and mitigating factors analysis and articulate the reduction for a guilty plea at the correct stage.

Calculate the effect of concurrent and consecutive sentences, totality and time spent on remand in three worked examples.

Select and justify ancillary orders for a given set of facts, including compensation, costs and restraining or protective orders.

Apply the youth sentencing framework to a case involving a child or young person and identify where it diverges from adult sentencing.

Sequence a Crown Court trial from plea and case management through jury swearing, opening, examination in chief, cross-examination, closing speeches and summing up.

Draft and deliver an opening speech and a closing speech within strict time limits for the same set of facts.

Plan and conduct the examination in chief and cross-examination of one witness, applying the rules on leading questions, previous consistent statements and refreshing memory.

Respond to an application made in the jury's absence, using the correct procedure for legal argument and the appropriate exclusionary submission.

Deliver a plea in mitigation structured around mitigation, offence seriousness and the sentence sought.

Distinguish the available appeal routes from a magistrates' court decision and from a Crown Court conviction, stating the grounds, time limits and permission requirements for each.

Explain the powers of the appellate court on appeal and identify which remedies follow a successful appeal against conviction and against sentence.

Outline post-conviction remedies outside the appeal route and identify the body or procedure responsible for each.

Apply the youth justice framework to the treatment of a child defendant, covering the appropriate adult requirement, venue and the court's approach to vulnerability.

Plan adjustments for a vulnerable witness or defendant, selecting the appropriate special measures and ground rules hearing points.

Synthesise all domains into a single case file, following one defendant from arrest through to sentence and appeal.

Diagnose weak domains from earlier weeks and re-drill the three lowest-scoring areas with focused questions.

Complete a full timed mock examination under exam conditions and mark it against the marking scheme.

Reduce each domain to a one-page revision sheet containing only the frameworks, tests and time limits that must be recalled under pressure.