The Police and Criminal Evidence Acts 1984-provides an effective balance between the powers of the police and safe guards provided for suspects.

Yasmin White 27th September 2002 The Police and Criminal Evidence Acts 1984-provides an effective balance between the powers of the police and safe guards provided for suspects One of the fundamental civil liberties is the right to freedom of your person from detention, and your property from seizure, without lawful cause. Recognition if this right goes back centuries in the history of Britain. Its fundamental expression is in the statement that we live in a country where one of the basic principles of the constitution is that our affairs shall be carried on under "the rule of law". In Entick v Carrington (1765) 19 St Tr 1030 Lord Chief Justice Camden set out the basic principle that anyone who invades another's private property is guilty of an offence unless they can show a justification for having done so. The recognition of the right to liberty of the person, and freedom from interference with private property, underpins the torts of trespass to land and trespass to the person. It also underlies the defence to a charge of assault that the person was acting in self-defence against an unlawful detention. False imprisonment is based on the idea that there must be no deprivation of personal liberty without lawful authority. The powers given to the police to act to maintain public order and to

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Automatism is generally considered to be a state in which a person has no control over his or her actions.

Laura Westwood Bratty- "Automatism means an act which is done by the muscles without any control by the mind such as a spasm, a reflex action or a convulsion; or an act done by a person who is not conscious of what he is doing such as an act done whilst suffering from concussion or sleepwalking. Evaluate the accuracy of this statement by reference to the way in which the courts have recognised the defence of automatism. Automatism is generally considered to be a state in which a person has no control over his or her actions. It can then be argued that there is a lack of actus Reus, as the act is not voluntary, or that there is a lack of mens rea because the defendant is not conscious of what he is doing. In law there is a distinction between insane and non-insane automatism, which is very different to the medical meaning of the word. The defence is not available where the defendant's mind is functioning, albeit imperfectly, in Broome v Perkins (1987), D could remember nothing about a journey, he was able to exercise some voluntary control over his movements, he had not been acting in an entirely involuntary manner. This approach was recently followed by the Court of Appeal who insisted that automatism is only available where there is a total loss of voluntary control as suggested in Attorney-General's Reference (No 2 of 1992) where D had been put into a

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Magistrates - Explain the role that magistrates play in the criminal justice system

Magistrates (a) Explain the role that magistrates play in the criminal justice system Magistrates are involved with many aspects of the criminal justice system and have lots of jobs to do. Criminal cases where the offence in summary or triable either way are heard by magistrates. Summary would be cases with minor offences such as speeding and drink driving, whilst triable either way are potentially more serious cases such as theft, burglary or ABH. Magistrates will listen to the case presented by the defence and prosecution, decide on the verdict and pass sentence. 3 magistrates will sit on every case. A magistrate has sentencing restrictions and can give a maximum of 6 months prison, £5000 fine or 240 hours community punishment order per offence. A clerk will sit in court with the magistrates and provide legal information for the lay magistrates. A clerk is a paid professional and must have 5 years experience of being a barrister or solicitor to get appointed. A clerk can give legal advice but can't be seen to influence the decision of the magistrates. In the case of R v Eccles a clerk was thought to have influenced the magistrates decision and a successful appeal was launched. All summary cases are heard by magistrates. A triable either way case can be heard in a magistrate's court or in the crown court if the offence is deemed too serious. A magistrate will conduct

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The aim of this study is to outline the difficulties confronting the court when fitness to plead and insanity defence are contested.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The aim of this study is to outline the difficulties confronting the court when fitness to plead and insanity defence are contested. The relationship between fitness to plead, insanity and crime has been of interest to man from time. This is particularly so when crimes like homicide (murder) have been committed. Prior to the trial (Pre-trial phase), fitness to plead is usually contested. It is not unusual for a person appearing before the court to be unfit to plead. The jury, by resorting to the trial of facts, determines whether the accused committed the act or not. With regards to the Soham Killings, Huntley's "fitness to plead" was questioned. As a result of this he had to be remanded under section 35 of the Mental Health Act 1983, for a medical report at Rampton Special Hospital. The issue here is to ascertain that the individual has got sufficient intellect to be able to plead to the indictment and also understand the proceedings sufficiently to challenge jurors, take in the evidence, and make a proper defence. The test for this purpose is that set out in R V Pritchard. The fact that a criminal is insane, can affect the normal processes of the law at the trial phase. The legal position would be to divert as many mentally disordered offenders as possible from prosecution or penal disposal towards the health and social services.

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Explain the role and effectiveness of the law commission

(a) Explain the role and effectiveness of the law commission The Law Commission is the main law reform body. It was set up in 1965 by the Law Commission Act It is a full time body that consists of a chairman, 4 law commissioners, support staff to assist in research, and 4 parliamentary draftsmen. The Law Commission is an independent, government-funded organisation, which reviews areas of the law that need updating, reforming or developing. It makes recommendations to Parliament, and these recommendations are published in its report series. The Law Commission helps ensure that laws provide effectively for the current and future needs of our rapidly changing society. Their role which is set out in S.3 of this act states that they should: 'keep under review all the law with a view to its systematic development and reform, elimination of anomalies, repeal of obsolete and unnecessary enactments, reduction of separate enactments, the simplification and modernisation of the law.' The advantages of this law commission is that it is a full time body which shows that it is always in operation, it is the main law reform body, they have support staff to assist in research, they have a rotating chair person which shows that they have fresh ideas and brains and they have a clear role (S.3 of the act). The topics that the law commission have to consider are referred to by the Lord

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Police powers

AS Law Student Answers (Module 2568: Machinery of Justice) POLICE POWERS Police officers on patrol believe that a man that they see, Shane, is a suspect wanted for burglary. Outline the powers of the police to stop and search and if necessary to arrest the man. The police have the power to stop and search both people and vehicles in a public place under sections 1 to 7 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). They can only do this if they have reasonable grounds for suspecting Shane of carrying some stolen goods or prohibited articles like drugs or offensive weapons. In Shane's case this can also include articles for use in connection with burglary or theft. However, there are safeguards built in to ensure no one is being picked on or harassed in any way. The police must give their name and station and the reason for the search, otherwise it is unlawful as was shown in Osman 1999 where Mr Osman was found not guilty of assaulting an officer because the officer did not give a reason for the search. Since Shane is on the street, only his outer clothing can be searched and the police must make a written report as soon as possible after the search. Code of Practice A states that the police must not act just because of a person's characteristics, such as their race, hairstyle or manner of dress. Even if Shane had previous convictions for possessing an

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