16 May 2008
Prosecution Appeal R v B [2008] All ER (D) 08 (May)
Where a judge exercises his judgment in the course of a criminal trial, the very fact that he has carefully to balance conflicting considerations inevitably means that he might reach a different or the opposite conclusion.
Leave to appeal under s 67 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 will not be given by the Court of Appeal unless it is seriously arguable, not that the discretion might have been exercised differently, but that it was unreasonable for it to have been exercised in the way that it was.
The mere fact that the judge could have reached an opposite conclusion to the one he did does not begin to provide a basis for a successful appeal.
