Criminal litigation : practice and procedure

570 Pages·2010·4.575 MB·xxviii, 538 p.\570

by  Deborah Sharpley

i
CRIMINAL LITIGATION
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
ii Criminal Litigation: Practice and Procedure
iii
CRIMINAL LITIGATION
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
Deborah Sharpley
iv Criminal Litigation: Practice and Procedure
Published by
College of Law Publishing,
Braboeuf Manor, Portsmouth Road, St Catherines, Guildford GU3 1HA
© The College of Law 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or
by any means, including photocopying or recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for
which should be addressed to the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 905391 98 1
Typeset by Style Photosetting Ltd, Mayfield, East Sussex
Printed in Great Britain by Ashford Colour Press Ltd, Gosport, Hampshire
v
Preface
This book has been written principally for students studying criminal litigation as part of the Legal Practice
Course (LPC). The book is designed so that it may be used both by students studying the basics of criminal
litigation on the compulsory part of the LPC, and also students studying advanced criminal litigation as an
elective subject. Although intended primarily as a student text, it is hoped that the level of detail in the book
will also make it of use to trainee and newly-qualified solicitors.
The book concentrates on the practice and procedure of criminal litigation, from the initial investigations
carried out by the police through to appeals following conviction. Matters of substantive criminal law arise only
where necessary to illustrate a point of practice or procedure, or in the context of the law of evidence.
The book employs a case study to illustrate the most common documents that are created during the course of
criminal proceedings, and how such documents should be drafted. In addition, worked examples are used to
explain complex points of procedure and evidence. Flowcharts are provided, where appropriate, to demonstrate
procedures. Each chapter concludes with a checklist, summarising the key points the chapter has covered.
Appendix B includes extracts from the Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines.
I have endeavoured to state the law as at 30 June 2010.
In the interests of brevity, the masculine pronoun has been used throughout to include the feminine.
DEBORAH SHARPLEY
London
vi Criminal Litigation: Practice and Procedure
vii
Acknowledgements
Writing a textbook requires support from colleagues and others. I am fortunate to have enjoyed unstinting help
and assistance from a number of people at the College of Law, but particular thanks must go to Sean Hutton
and Gary Atkinson for their valuable comments. Thanks must also go to David Stott for his ongoing editorial
support and guidance, and to Sue Hall. More generally, I would like to thank all those colleagues who have
taken an interest in the writing of this book, together with those students who have taken the trouble to provide
constructive comments on the previous edition.
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Dedication
Many thanks to Kevin