Criminal Litigation and Evidence
Criminal Litigation and Evidence tests pre-trial procedure, police powers, disclosure, admissibility and trial submissions. You must spot the evidential gateway and the procedural consequence, not merely label the issue.
Core rules
- PACE 1984: arrest needs reasonable grounds; detention is reviewed; the suspect has the right to legal advice; interviews are under caution; s.78 can exclude evidence if its admission would have such an adverse effect on fairness that the court should not admit it.
- CPIA 1996: prosecution primary disclosure, defence statement, continuing duty, and unused material. Late defence statements can affect disclosure and credibility.
- Hearsay: CJA 2003 s.114 gateways; safeguards include s.78 PACE and s.125 stopping the case where the evidence is unconvincing.
- Bad character: CJA 2003 s.101 gateways, including propensity and important explanatory evidence; fairness and s.78 remain relevant.
- Identification: Turnbull warning; weakness and special need for caution.
- Submission: Galbraith, where the evidence is so tenuous that no reasonable jury could convict.
Worked example
A robbery trial depends on a single dock identification made in poor lighting. The witness had a brief view and did not pick the defendant out at an identification procedure. In cross-examination, the defence establishes the weak opportunity and inconsistency. The judge must give a Turnbull direction on the special need for caution and the specific weaknesses. If the only evidence is that identification, a Galbraith submission may succeed; if there is supporting evidence, the case goes to the jury with the warning.
Traps
Forgetting the defence statement timetable; treating s.78 as automatic exclusion for every breach; using bad character as mere prejudice; failing to challenge identification at the earliest opportunity; citing a hearsay gateway without addressing safeguards.
Key points
- Match police powers to PACE sections.
- CPIA disclosure continues after the defence statement.
- Hearsay needs a gateway and may still be excluded.
- Bad character needs a s.101 gateway and fairness analysis.
- Turnbull and Galbraith are separate identification and submission tools.