Judicial Precedents in Criminal Law
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835802200211 |
| Published date | 01 April 1958 |
| Date | 01 April 1958 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Judicial Precedents In
Criminal
Law
n
EADERS
of this
JOURNAL
may be left with some doubt as
.ft
to
the
precise effect of the pronouncement of
the
Court of
Appeal in Francis v. Yiewsley and West Drayton V.D.C.
that
Perrinsv. Perrins(reported at page 99 of this issue) was wrongly
decided, on any future decisions of
the
Divisional
Court
on a
similar criminal matter. Awriter in The Conveyancer for
January
and
February 1958 has summed up
the
present
position as follows:
"Just
where this decision leaves us is
not
absolutely clear. Perrins v. Perrins was a decision of
the
Divi-
sional Court in a criminal matter
and
the
Divisional Court
could therefore adopt
the
line
that
the
Court of Criminal
Appeal has taken in
the
past and refuse to accept the authority
of the Court of Appeal. Since, however, the Divisional
Court
itself has recently shown signs of regretting Perrins v. Perrins
it is more likely to accept the present position". Perhaps
the
matter can be best explored by examining
the
case law on
the
subject.
Both
the
Court
of Criminal Appeal
and
the
Divisional
Court of the High Courtexist as final appeal courts in criminal
matters.
The
Divisional Court is not limited to criminal
matters
but
there is a further appeal in non-criminal matters
to
the
Court of Appeal.
The
decisions of the Court of Criminal
Appeal are probably binding on
the
Queen's Bench Divisional
Court although no appeal lies to
the
former court from
the
latter.
The
Court
of Criminal Appeal hears appeals from
convictions on indictment at Quarter Sessions
and
Assizes
while
the
Divisional Court normally hears cases stated by
quarter sessions
and
petty sessions. Although
the
judges
of
the
Court of Criminal Appeal are judges of
the
Queen's Bench
Division
the
Court
itself is not
part
of the Supreme Court,
while the Divisional
Court
obviously is.
It
is perhaps
not
ISS
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