Human rights and criminal justice

Book abstract:

The aim of this book is to examine in detail the impact of European human rights law on the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Its origins lie in the work carried out by the authors for the Judicial Studies Board and the Law Commission in the period prior to the coming into force of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Since the Act came into force, it has been possible to identify some important themes in the decisions of the English and Scottish courts. The House of Lords and the Privy Council have fashioned a domestic response to the concept of proportionality. They have established a standard of constitutional review, emphasising that the courts must apply the searching scrutiny required under the Convention, whilst allowing for a 'discretionary area of judgment' in assessing the choices which Parliament has made on issues of social and moral policy. So far as the right to a fair trial is concerned, they have adopted the Strasbourg approach of assessing the fairness of the proceedings as a whole, whilst recognising the important principle that a breach of Article 6 will, almost inevitably, result in the quashing of a criminal conviction as 'unsafe'. These and other implications of the Act and its impact on criminal law and practice are dealt with in this weighty volume, which states the law as at July 5 2001.

The chapters are: The European Convention on Human Rights; Principles of interpretation; The Human Rights Act 1998; The definition of a criminal charge; Rights relating to arrest and detention in police custody; Entry, search and seizure; Intrusive surveillance; The substantive criminal law; The burden and standard of proof; Retrospectivity and the principle of legal certainty; Issues of criminal responsibility; Double jeopardy; Bail; Aspects of criminal procedure; Criminal evidence; Sentencing and related issues; Appeals; The rights of victims of crime.