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Bar Council totally opposed to
reducing rights of accused
by MICHAEL ZANDER
The Bar Council has come out strongly against recom-
mendations of the Criminal Law Revision Committee
about the rights of the accused. A report issued today
condemns all the committee's main proposals.
Mr. Roger Parker, Q.C., chairman of the Bar Coun-
cil, said that the proposals struck at the fundamental
concepts of the British system of justice. Even so, they
would be ineffectual in achieving what the committee
seemed to have mainly in mind—more convictions of
the guilty in serious cases.
The 73-page report is based on work by the Criminal
Bar Association which represents both defence and
prosecution barristers. It goes through the committee's
proposals point by point:
The right to
silence
—The
report condemns the pro-
posed abolition of the right to silence in the police sta-
tion. It says that this right is the basic safeguard for the
accused. Its abolition would impair the fundamental
principle that it was for the prosecution to prove its
case. It would bear particularly on the inarticulate and
considerably increase the powers of the police.
The
caution
—This
should not be abolished since it
was the only way to ensure that the right to silence was
brought to the suspect's attention.
Proposed new
procedure
—The
suspect should be
asked to sign notes taken of the interrogation and a
copy should be given to him within 48 hours of being
charged. This would help to reduce argument at the
trial as to what he had said whilst being interrogated.
The Judges'
Rules
—Evidence
obtained in breach of
the Judges' Rules should be inadmissible at the trial
unless the judge specifically ruled with reasons that
the breach should be condoned.
Legal advice in the police
station
—The
report says
that suspects were now often deprived of access to a
solicitor. It recommends that in such cases any state-
ment made after the refusal should be inadmissible at
the trial unless, again, the judge ruled with reasons that
the refusal was justified.
Defence duty to disclose
evidence
—The
Bar suggest
that at the committal proceedings an accused should
be invited to consider whether he wished to disclose his
defence so that it could be checked and tested by the
police.
Hearsay
evidence
—The
committee's proposal that
hearsay evidence of unidentified or untraceable per-
sons should be admissible is strongly criticised. Such
evidence could too easily be manufactured. No hearsay
should be admitted unless other corroborating evid-
ence existed.
The committee's proposal that a confession could be
evidence of the facts stated in it was unacceptable. It
would mean that an accused could be found guilty on
the out-of-court statement of a co-accused who might
not give evidence and therefore never be tested by
cross-examination. This would tempt one accused to
make statements against another in return for favours
from the police.
Previous
convictions
—The
report rejects the com-
mittee's proposal that previous convictions should be
admissible where the accused admits the facts and
denies only his criminal intent. Previous convictions
were very prejudicial, especially since they might be
for much more serious offences than that in issue at the
trial. A danger existed that prosecutors would use them
to shore up weak cases.
The Bar Council's memorandum proposes that the
whole question of criminal evidence and procedure
should be referred for further consideration to the Law
Commission.
Evidence in Criminal Cases,
Bar Council, £1.
The Guardian
(1 February 1973)
In Lighter Vein
The following is an extract of a letter written by a
bank in answer to one from a country firm asking their
advices in reference to the transfer by a client to a
relation of hers, of her farm, farm stock, and marketable
securities :
"There is no reason why the stock exchange could
not be transferred immediately into Mrs. S's name and
a further idea is that Mrs. S should apply for a hard
number. Perhaps you would study these suggestions
and have a further discussion with our mutual clients."
Note—Members are requested to forward humorous
stories for this column.
EEC Directive on Company
Law
Proposed changes in company law in the EEC include
a minimum capital requirement for companies, more
information for shareholders and employees on pro-
posed mergers and more detailed format for the con-
tents of balance sheets and profit and loss accounts.
The EEC directive, which necessitates the law chan-
ges, is to be implemented by July 1, the Government
Information Bureau announced yesterday. The proposal
of minimum capital requirements, if adopted in its
present form, would require a paid-up capital of
£2,500 for large companies and about £400 for the
smaller ones.
The Irish Press
(2 February 1973)
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