Voir Dire in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • R v Early (John)
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • 26 July 2002

    Judges can only make decisions and counsel can only act and advise on the basis of the information with which they are provided. The integrity of our system of criminal trial depends on judges being able to rely on what they are told by counsel and on counsel being able to rely on what they are told by each other. This is particularly crucial in relation to disclosure and Pll hearings.

  • R v Looseley
    • House of Lords
    • 25 October 2001

    Every court has an inherent power and duty to prevent abuse of its process. By recourse to this principle courts ensure that executive agents of the state do not misuse the coercive, law enforcement functions of the courts and thereby oppress citizens of the state. It is simply not acceptable that the state through its agents should lure its citizens into committing acts forbidden by the law and then seek to prosecute them for doing so.

  • R v Mhs
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • 29 November 2012

    As a result of the decision of this court and the Supreme Court in R v Horncastle, 26 and the decisions of this court in R v Ibrahim27 and R v Riat, 28 the framework to be considered to decide whether hearsay evidence should be admitted pursuant to the statutory framework set out in Chapter 2 of Part 11 of the CJA 2003 is clear.

    In that respect, the court has to have specific regard to the matters set out in section 116(4)(a) to (c). The judge is entitled to expect that "very full" enquires as to witness credibility will have been made if it is the prosecution that wishes to put in the hearsay evidence and if it is the defence, they too must undertake proper checks.

  • R v H (1995)
    • House of Lords
    • 24 May 1995

    And fourthly where this is not so but the question of collusion has been raised the judge must clearly draw the importance of collusion to the attention of the jury and leave it to them to decide whether notwithstanding such evidence of collusion as may have been put before them they are satisfied that the evidence can be relied upon as free from collusion and tell them that if they are not so satisfied they cannot properly rely upon it as corroboration or for any other purpose adverse to the defence.

  • R v Chalkley ; R v Jeffries
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • 18 December 1998

    But a conviction would not normally be unsafe where an accused is influenced to change his plea to guilty because he recognizes that, as a result of a ruling to admit strong evidence against him, his case on the facts is hopeless. A change of plea to guilty in such circumstance would normally be regarded as an acknowledgment of the truth of the facts constituting the offence charged.

  • Secretary of State for Trade and Industry v Bairstow
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 11 March 2003

    In my view these cases establish the following propositions:

See all results
Legislation
  • The Legal Aid for Crown Court Proceedings (Costs) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2005
    • Northern Ireland
    • Saturday January 01, 2005
    ... ...   Where a fee is payable under Part 4 in respect of the holding of a voir dire, any day on which the voir dire was held shall count towards ... ...
  • SEYCHELLES CAPITAL OFFENCES Order In Council, 1903.
    • UK Non-devolved
    • Thursday January 01, 1903
    ... ... the witnesses objected to shall be called and examined on the "voir dire". If any error or mistake be discovered in any list of witnesses ... ...
  • Edinburgh Police Act 1805
    • England & Wales
    • Tuesday January 01, 1805
    ... ... Impecnon of all concerned; and any Three or more Pcifons qualified to voir to Rcfident Cninni fli )r.ers fhall be, and aic hereby authorized 'b c.dl ... , former Acts, or if thev (hall fail to give the necefTary Orders and Dire 5\ior;s for light- the Gencml 11 ni i i^ r J * ex 1 1 - n ,r t ' ... ...
  • Grand Junction Canal Act 1812
    • UK Non-devolved
    • Wednesday January 01, 1812
    ... ... and Meaning of the faid firft-recited A&, or of this Ad; and alfo to dire£fc the Delivery of the Water at Cowley Lock aforefaid into the faid River ... Colne, one Copy of which Certificates fhall, whilft the faid Refer* voir is running, be produced and delivered, at the End of every Week, to the ... ...
See all results
Books & Journal Articles
  • Personality, belief in a just world, and attitudes toward criminal responsibility defenses: a preliminary study
    • No. 5-1, February 2019
    • Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice
    • 1-12
    Purpose: In Canada, if it can be proven that a defendant was suffering from a mental disorder at the time they committed an offense, they can be found Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Menta...
    ... ... of career roles relating toinsanity defense bias; and improving the voir dire process.Originality/value –The results of this study may be used to ... ...
  • The Ethnic Dimension in Jury Selection: UK and USA Approaches
    • No. 67-6, December 2003
    • Journal of Criminal Law, The
    • 0000
    This article commences with a discussion of recent research on perceptions of treatment of ethnic minority defendants in England, including jury trial. In this context a recent Court of Appeal deci...
    ... ... The majority held that the prosecutionmeasures during the voir dire did discriminate against the defendant. Thedissident justices opinion ... ...
  • Court of Appeal
    • No. 74-5, October 2010
    • Journal of Criminal Law, The
    • 0000
    ... ... Confession Evidence and the Circumstances Requiring a ... Voir Dire ... R  v  Bhavna Dhorajiwala  [2010] EWCA Crim 1237 ... ...
  • Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
    • No. 62-5, October 1998
    • Journal of Criminal Law, The
    • 0000
    ... ... JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OFTHEPRIVY COUNCILJURY INFORMED OF VOIR DIREMitchell v The QueenA man and his wife were murdered in their home and ... Secondly, after thevoir dire, in which the judge found that the confessions were voluntary, ... ...
See all results
Law Firm Commentaries
See all results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT