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20 April 2007 / Andrew Keogh
Issue: 7269 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice
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Crime brief

Criminal Justice Act 2003 - Dangerous and confused? Bad character - identification issues and harsh words, Drink, guns and mobile phones, Pre-charge bail powers

Bad character

R v Eastlake [2007] EWCA Crim 603

Evidence of bad character relating to street violence was admissible to show propensity in a case involving two allegations of violence (one section 20 the other section 47 OAPA 1861) where identification was at issue in relation to each offence.

R v Osbourne [2007] EWCA Crim 481, [2007] All ER (D) 206 (Mar)

O stood trial for murder. At the trial the prosecution admitted evidence that O had in the past been aggressive to, and shouted at, his partner in relation to the care of a child.

Held

That evidence ought not to have been admitted as it did not qualify as reprehensible behaviour under Criminal Justice Act 2003, s 112. The court observed: “Shouting between partners over the care of a very young child is not of course to be commended but in the context of a charge of

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NEWS
The government will aim to pass legislation banning leasehold for new flats and capping ground rent, introducing non-compulsory digital ID and creating a ‘duty of candour’ for public servants (also known as the Hillsborough law) in the next Parliament

An Italian financier has lost his bid to block his Australian wife from filing divorce papers in England on the basis it was no longer her domicile of choice

Reforms to the disclosure regime in the business and property courts have not achieved their objectives, lawyers have warned
The Law Society has urged ministers to hold a public consultation on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the justice system as a whole
Ministers have proposed bringing inquest work under a single fee scheme for legal help and advocacy legal aid work
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