Articles tagged as Criminal Law
Latest Law Papers tagged as Criminal Law
Including law essays, dissertations, problem questions, case summaries, and law lectures, suitable for law students working towards their LLB / LLM qualifications or those studying for the new SQE.
Sutherland v Her Majesty’s Advocate (Scotland) [2020] UKSC 32
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court held that a prosecutor could use evidence of sexual communications gathered by a private paedophile-hunter group without interfering with the accused’s article 8 rights. The appellant had sent explicit messages and an image to an adult decoy whom he believed to be a 13-year-old child. Those communications were not capable of respect […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R (on the application of Highbury Poultry Farm Produce Ltd) v Crown Prosecution Service [2020] UKSC 39
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court held that two offences charged against a poultry slaughterhouse operator, arising from chickens entering the scalding tank while still alive, are offences of strict liability under domestic regulations implementing EU animal-welfare rules. The prosecution need not prove knowledge of the circumstances or any negligence or other culpability by the business operator. The […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
Konecny v District Court in Brno-Venkov, Czech Republic [2019] UKSC 8
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court held that a person convicted in his absence, whose conviction remains binding and enforceable but who has an unqualified right to a retrial after surrender, is treated as convicted and unlawfully at large, not as merely accused, under the Extradition Act 2003. Delay before conviction therefore does not start the statutory passage-of-time […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
In the matter of an application by Dennis Hutchings for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2019] UKSC 26
Case Summaries
Dennis Hutchings challenged a certificate directing that he be tried without a jury on charges arising from the fatal shooting of John Paul Cunningham during an army patrol he commanded in 1974. The Supreme Court held that the Director of Public Prosecutions had acted within the wide powers in the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R v Reeves Taylor [2019] UKSC 51
Case Summaries
The prosecution alleged torture by a member of an armed group during the Liberian civil war. For the majority, acting in an official capacity could include acting for a group that exercised governmental functions over a civilian population. Military control of territory alone was insufficient. New expert evidence meant that the judge had to reconsider […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R (Haralambous) v Crown Court at St Albans and another [2018] UKSC 1
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court held that courts dealing with search and seizure warrants under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and retention orders under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 may consider information withheld from affected persons on public interest grounds, including by using a closed material procedure on judicial review. There is no […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R (Gibson) v Secretary of State for Justice [2018] UKSC 2
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court held that credit for part payment of a confiscation order, against the term of imprisonment fixed in default, must be calculated by reference to the sum due when the Crown Court made the order and not by reference to the larger sum outstanding once interest is added. Mr Gibson was therefore entitled […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R v McCool (Appellant) (Northern Ireland) [2018] UKSC 23
Case Summaries
By a majority, the Supreme Court held that confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 could be made against a husband and wife convicted of benefit fraud, even though each had also been convicted in the same proceedings of one offence committed before the Act came into force. The prosecution had left those […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R v Mackinlay and others (Respondents) [2018] UKSC 42
Case Summaries
At a preparatory hearing ahead of a criminal trial, a question arose about how the Representation of the People Act 1983 then treated campaigning support provided free or at a discount. The Supreme Court distinguished a benefit supplied for a candidate from support actually used by or on behalf of that candidate. A legal question […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R v Sally Lane and John Letts (AB and CD) (Appellants) [2018] UKSC 36
Case Summaries
In this 2018 pretrial appeal, the Supreme Court interpreted the terrorism funding offence in section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000. It considered whether the prosecution had to prove actual suspicion where the accused had reasonable cause to suspect that money might be used for terrorism. The question raised before trial The appeal arose from […] ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
Ivey v Genting Casinos (UK) Ltd (t/a Crockfords) [2017] UKSC 67
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court held that Ivey’s edge-sorting breached the betting contract and explained the distinction between cheating and dishonesty. ...
Last modified: 4th Nov 2026
R (Stott) v Secretary of State for Justice [2018] UKSC 59
Case Summaries
In 2018 the release rules for an extended determinate sentence required Mr Stott to serve two-thirds of his custodial term before he could be considered for parole. He challenged the difference between that threshold and those for other sentences under articles 14 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Stott’s sentence comprised […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
Gordon v Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission [2017] UKSC 20
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal against the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission’s refusal to refer a 2002 rape conviction following Cadder v HM Advocate. The Commission accepted that a miscarriage of justice might have occurred because the appellant’s admission of sexual intercourse, made in a police interview without access to a solicitor, was the […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
AB v Her Majesty’s Advocate [2017] UKSC 25
Case Summaries
Scottish legislation prevented an accused person from relying on a reasonable belief about a young person’s age if the police had previously charged the accused with a relevant sexual offence. AB argued that the earlier charges against him had given him no warning that consensual sexual activity with an older child was itself an offence. […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
Isle of Wight Council v Platt [2017] UKSC 28
Case Summaries
A parent commits an offence under section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 if a registered pupil of compulsory school age does not attend in accordance with the school’s rules, unless a statutory exception applies. The Supreme Court rejected the view that “regularly” means sufficiently often, so a high percentage attendance cannot excuse an unauthorised […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
Lord Advocate v Dean [2017] UKSC 44
Case Summaries
If an extradited prisoner faces violence from other prisoners, what must the receiving authorities do to protect him? The Supreme Court distinguished the risk of violence from the adequacy of the protection offered. It also asked whether the conditions intended to keep Mr Dean safe could themselves amount to inhuman or degrading treatment. Mr Dean […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
In the matter of an application by Jason Loughlin for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2017] UKSC 63
Case Summaries
A reduced sentence can secure a witness’s help before the prosecution knows how reliable that help will be. When two witnesses later gave some deliberately untrue evidence, the question was who should decide whether to send their sentences back for review. The Supreme Court upheld the prosecutor’s decision to leave the sentences in place. Robert […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
R v M, C and T [2017] UKSC 58
Case Summaries
Can selling goods bearing a genuine trade mark amount to a criminal offence? M, C and T argued that only a counterfeit mark could engage section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994. The Supreme Court held that consent to applying the mark and consent to selling the marked goods were separate questions. This was […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
R v Golds [2014] EWCA Crim 748
Case Summaries
Golds admitted to killing his partner and prior to the killing he had sexually assaulted her. The question for the jury was whether he was guilty of murder or manslaughter by virtue of diminished responsibility under s. 2(1) Homicide Act 1957. ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8
Case Summaries
Parasitic Accessory Liability, intention and foresight of principal’s act. This joint case involved two separate appellants who had been convicted for murder on the basis of joint enterprise, after a co-defendant had actually killed the victim. ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
Boyd v Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland [2026] UKSC 7
Case Summaries
Mr Boyd was sentenced for criminal damage without a compensation order; nearly two years later a District Judge added one under article 158A. The Supreme Court held the power covers the whole sentencing package and permits additions, but the delay was fatal. Background This appeal concerned the scope of the power of a District Judge […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
R v Taylor (Appellant) [2016] UKSC 5
Case Summaries
Jack Taylor was charged with aggravated vehicle-taking after a scooter rider was killed in a collision with a truck which the Crown said he had taken without consent. The Crown accepted that a jury could not be sure of any fault in the way he drove. The Supreme Court held that the offence is not […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
R v Mitchell (Northern Ireland) [2016] UKSC 55
Case Summaries
When the prosecution relies on a defendant's earlier misconduct to show a propensity to behave in a particular way, the jury must be sure that the propensity itself has been proved. It need not, however, decide each past allegation in isolation and find every one proved beyond reasonable doubt. Angeline Mitchell's conviction for murder was […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
Goluchowski and Sas v Polish judicial authorities [2016] UKSC 36
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court dismissed appeals by two men whose surrender to Poland was sought under European arrest warrants so that they could serve prison sentences. The warrants did not set out later Polish summonses or domestic arrest warrants or, in some cases, the decisions which activated a suspended sentence or revoked conditional release. The Court […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
R (Ismail) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] UKSC 37
Case Summaries
The Supreme Court held that the Home Secretary's proposed service of an Egyptian criminal judgment on Mr Ismail under the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003 did not engage his article 6 rights. Service was a formal administrative step, distinct from enforcement, and did not directly expose him to a breach of fair-trial guarantees, even though […] ...
Last modified: 3rd Nov 2026
