Can a Marriage Be Delayed in the Public Interest So as to Maintain the Compellability of a Prosecution Witness?: R (on the Application of the Crown Prosecution Service) v Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages
| Author | Déirdre Dwyer |
| Published date | 01 July 2003 |
| DOI | 10.1177/136571270300700304 |
| Date | 01 July 2003 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
WITNESS COMPELLABILIPI:
CAN
MARRIAGE BE DELAYED IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST?
Can
a
marriage be delayed in the public
interest
so
as to maintain the
compellability of
a
prosecution witness?:
R
(on the application
of
the Crown
Prosecution Service)
v
Registrar
General
of
Births, Deaths and Marriages
By
Deirdre
Dyer
University
of
Reading
Legal
background
y virtue of
s.
80
of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (as amended
by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999), the husband
or
wife of
a
person charged in proceedings shall not be compellable as a
witness
(s.
80(2A)).
except in limited circumstances relating to an assault on the
husband
or
wife
or
a person under the age of
16.
or
a sexual offence against a
person under the age of
16
(s.
80(3)).
This privilege extends only to those who are legally husband
or
wife, and not to
those in the position of a husband
or
wife
(R
v
Pearce’).
If the witness ceases to be
married to the accused, he
or
she becomes compellable ‘as if that person and the
accused had never been married’ (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984,
s.
80(5)).
Where a prisoner wishes to get married,
s.
27(A)(3) of the Marriage Act 1949 (as
amended by the Marriage Act 1983) provides that notice of the marriage sent
to
the superintendent registrars ‘shall be accompanied by a statement
...
by a
responsible authority
...
(b) stating that the responsible authority has no objection
to that establishment being specified in the notice of the marriage as the place
where the marriage is to be solemnised’.
In
this case, the ‘responsible authority’
is the director of the prison. By virtue of
s.
31
of the 1949 Act, ‘[Tlhe superintendent
registrar, on the request of the person by whom notice of the marriage was given.
shall issue
a
certificate
of
the prescribed form
. .
.’
1
[2001]
JWCA
Crim
2834. [ZOO21 1
Cr
App
R
39.
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE
&
PROOF
(2003)
7
E&P
191-196 191
I__
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